Criminal Minds AU
by Mrs. Hotchner-Wolfe
Summary: Following Hotch and Regina through the show. Chapters will be of inconsistent lengths. Not all episodes will be re written. Ratings may change. Please Review
1. Extreme Agressor

**EXTREME AGRESSOR**

Aaron Hotchner was at home with his heavily pregnant wife, Hailey. They were upstairs in their bedroom, creating a crib and trying to pick a name for their baby boy.

"How 'bout Andrew?" she asked. "It's Greek for 'valiant'".

"Let's call him ... Sergio," Aaron joked.

Haley laughed. "Please tell me you're kidding."

"Butch?"

"How about Donald?"

"Hans."

"No! Wait, wait. Um ... Okay…" She looked up and said, "Gideon."

Hotch laughed and walked over to her. "Not a chance."

"It's Hebrew. Look what it means. It's perfect. Gideon Hotchner."

"No."

"Yes."

He started kissing her. "No." Despite everything he did love his wife. He was happy and he wasn't afraid to admit it. The only that had begun to worry him recently was that Regina Williams was going to be returning back to work in a few days. Would she change everything.

"Yes," she laughed

"No."

"Gideon." Suddenly the phone rang. Both their faces fell, knowing exactly what that meant. Hotch gave his hug and son a big hug before walking over to the fax machine.

Derek Morgan was at a bar with three women. "It's the 1940s. He put bombs in train stations and movie theaters."

One of the women began hurriedly. "Uh, the "Mad Bomber," George Metesky."

Morgan picked up his glass. "Nice. The winners sit. Losers, drink."

"Cheers," they said in unison.

Another woman stopped them. "Hold on. Metesky wasn't a serial killer. None of his bombs ever killed anyone."

"Well, you think all we do is serial killers? Trust me, we cover the whole spectrum of psychos. We profiled the "DC Sniper," the "Unabomber." We do terrorists, arsonists-" he began explaining.

The final woman nodded. "Supervisory agents trying to get trainees drunk?"

Morgan laughed as his cell rang. He looked at the screen. "Excuse me."

He turned to check the call. It said BAU. The first woman looked at the name. "Wow. Behavioral Analysis Unit. You work with Gideon? Were you with him in Boston?"

He glanced back at them. "I was supposed to be." He answered the phone. "Yeah. This is Morgan…"

Regina Williams was having a girls night in with Penelope Garcia and Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, celebrating her final night as Garcia's roommate. She had just settled on the couch in her pyjamas and a tub of ice cream in her hand with her friends, when they turned on her.

"Are you sure you want to go back?" JJ asked.

Regina looked at her. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Hotch…" Garcia suggested.

Regina noticeably winced. "Thanks, babe." It had been six months and she knew he was happy. She'd seen him and his wife. Mostly together. Happy. But they hadn't talked since he had her temporarily transferred. She'd barely talked about him to the girls. Now there was no way around it.

JJ cut into her thoughts. "Can you cope?" she asked.

"I coped before CSU… why shouldn't I be able to now?"

"You're going to be working with him everyday."

"I'll manage. I'm… over him isn't how I want to put it… I'm a big girl and besides-" She was interrupted by her cell phone.

JJ grabbed it first. "Well it's not supposed to say that before the day after tomorrow."

She gave it to Regina. "Williams… Hey Reid…I'm not back until tomorrow… Ok… Ok, I'll meet you at the academy. Bye…" She hung up and took a deep breath. "Looks like I'm back."

Jason Gideon was standing at the front of a lecture hall. "Anyone recognize these faces?"

One of the students spoke. "Victims of the "Footpath Killer.""

"That's what Virginia newspapers are calling him. We refer to him as the "unknown subject" or "Unsub." I told Virginia PD -- we're looking for a white male in his 20s ... who owns an American-made truck in disrepair. Works a menial job. I told 'em when you find him ... don't be surprised to hear him speak with a severe stutter."

"Not to sound skeptical, but come on ... a stutter?" a young woman asked.

"Where'd the murders occur?" The room went silent. "Hiking paths. Isolated. If I'm a killer who has to use an immediate application of overpowering force, even out in the middle of nowhere, I lack confidence. I can't charm them into my car like Ted Bundy did. I can't because I am ashamed of something." The side door opened and Dr. Spencer Reid and Regina Williams stepped into the class. He held up a file folder and tapped on it. "Excuse me."

They walked out of the room and walked down a hall. "They're calling him the "Seattle Strangler." Four victims in four months. He keeps 'em alive seven days. The handle serves as a crank," Reid explained.

"Allowing him to control the rate of suffocation." He looked at Regina. "Welcome back."

Regina took a deep breath. "Thanks."

"To prolong it?" Reid continued.

"To enjoy it."

"Seattle's hit a wall?" Regina said. Her phone rang. "Just a second… Hello," she said answering it. It was the girls.

"Seen him yet?" Garcia asked.

"No… Look, I'll let you know when I do, ok?"

"Fine…" JJ conceded. "Reg, good luck."

"Thanks, Jayge." She hung up and rounded a corner, nearly walking straight into Aaron Hotchner. She looked up at him for a while. Morgan, standing behind Hotch, stepped forward. "Welcome back, Reg."

Regina averted her gaze from Hotch and smiled at Morgan. "Thanks, Derek…"

"After you," Hotch said.

Regina walked in first, in time to hear Gideon say that he'd get some thoughts to them soon.

"You're gonna be with us in Seattle ASAP," Hotch announced.

Gideon looked up from the file. Morgan held up a photo of Heather Woodland and Gideon takes it. "22-year-old Heather Woodland," Morgan explained.

"Before she left for lunch, she downloaded an email with a time-delayed virus attached. The killer's virus wiped her hard drive and left this on the screen," Hotch said, handing Gideon a photo of the message. He read it and immediately recognized it. He glanced at Hotchner before walking over to the nearby wall."

Gideon read a framed crime scene on the wall. "'For heaven's sake, catch me before I kill more. I cannot control myself.'"

"William Heirens, 1945… The Lipstick Killer."

"He never keeps them for more than seven days, which means we have fewer than 36 hours to find her."

"They want you back in the saddle. You ready?" Regina asked.

"Looks like medical leave's over, boss," Reid stated.

"They sure they want me?"

Hotch nodded. "The order came from the director."

"Well, we'd better get started."

They all left the office. Reid walked back with Regina. He smiled at her. "I'm fine," she said. "I just want everyone to stop asking me that… It's been six months."

"Actually, I was going to ask if, um… No I was going to ask if you were ok…"

She smiled and nodded. She slapped him on the back. "Nice, Reid."

Hotch held back. Reid walked ahead of them. "We need to talk…"

"I wasn't supposed to start until Friday… I don't have any energy to talk about that. I just want to find this girl…"

"Can we at least try to get along on cases?" Hotch asked.

"Ok, look, I'm an insanely pissed off ex girlfriend, who knows how to use a gun. I'm blaming you for all this… I will try to be as civil as I can with you. I am _not _making any promises." Hotch nodded and followed Regina into one of the cars.

Two black SUVs stopped on the runway in front of the airplane. Gideon, Reid and Morgan stepped out of the car with their gear and headed for the plane.

_**Joseph Conrad said, "The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary. Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness."**_

Hotch, Regina and a female agent got out of the second car. Regina walked ahead of Hotch and the other woman. When she made it up the stairs, Reid was still standing there. She looked where he was looking and saw Hotch speaking with the other agent. He saw them looking and made his way to them. Regina urged Reid inside. Hotch walked up the steps and looked at Regina, not answering the questions her eyes asked. They walked into the plane.

The other men were already sitting down. Hotch took a seat and Regina stood. Gideon walked up the aisle to join Reid, Morgan, Regina and Hotchner. Regina read the file.

"His first victim was 26-year-old Melissa Kirsh. Stab wounds, strangulation."

"Wait, wait. Back up, back up. He stabbed her ... and then strangled her to finish her off?" Morgan asked.

"Other way around," Gideon replied. "Why do you think he started using the belt with the second murder?"

"Strangulation with your bare hands is not as easy as one would believe. He tried, probably found that it took too long..."

"So he stabbed her instead," Morgan finished.

"And realized it would be hours cleaning up the blood," Hotch said.

"Next time, our boy's got a method -- the belt."

Gideon nodded. "He's learning, perfecting his scenario…"

"Becoming a better killer," Regina finished as she moved to sit down before take off.

The next day, the team filed into the FBI Field office in Seattle. Morgan held the door open for the team. Gideon reached for his bag from the conveyor belt and walked away from the team. Morgan Reid and Regina followed while Hotch went through the metal detectors. Morgan bent in towards Reid and Regina. "He never stands with his back to a window. When I was between him and a doorway, he asked me to move," he stated.

"That's hyper vigilance. It's not uncommon in post-traumatic stress disorder," Reid explained.

"Just how much disorder are we talking about?"

"Morgan," Regina said.

Hotch came up behind them. "It's been six months. Everything's okay.

Hotch began the introductions. "This is Special Agent Gideon, Special Agent Morgan, our expert on obsessional crimes, Special Agent Reid.

"Doctor Reid," Gideon corrected.

"Dr. Reid, our expert on, well, everything, Agent Williams, our forensic expert, and after two years busting my butt in this office, I hope you remember me." The office chuckled. Regina threw a look to her male colleagues, her eyes wide. She mouthed to them, "Not funny," and shook her head. They smiled. Gideon looked at the board and began the profiling.

"He's willing to travel with the body."

"Then he drives a vehicle capable of concealing one, Hotch said.

"One in 7.4 drivers in Seattle owns an SUV," Reid said.

"Explorer with tinted windows," Morgan tried.

"Explorers rate higher with women," Regina countered.

"But how do we know it's his car?" Morgan asked. "Ted Bundy drove a VW Bug."

"What about a Jeep Cherokee?" Hotch asked.

"Jeeps are more masculine," Regina shot down quickly.

Gideon turned and looked at the group. "We all know how an Unsub feels about asserting his masculinity."

"When did the Bureau become involved in the case?" Hotch asked

A Seattle Agent answered him. "After the fourth body. He dumped that one out of state."

Hotch turned and looked at Gideon. "On purpose."

"If so, knowledge of law enforcement does suggest a criminal record," Regina said.

"Or that he watches television. May I?" Morgan stated.

Another Agent walked over to them. "So you wanna see our suspect list?"

"No," Hotch answered, "we won't look at a suspect list until after we come up with a profile. It keeps our perspective unbiased."

"When do we sit down with your task force?" Gideon asked.

"Four o'clock."

"An accurate profile by four o'clock today?" Morgan asked.

Gideon looked at the far victim board and suddenly walked past them. He spoke absently. "That's not a problem." The agents followed Gideon as he neared the board.

"Agent Gideon," Hotch began, "where would you like to start?"

Gideon pointed to one of the photos. "Let's start at the site of the last murder."

"Reid and I will go to Heather Woodlands home," Hotch said. "Morgan go with Agent Gideon, Williams go over the forensic side of things."

Gideon walked around the very area where the body was found. An officer and Morgan followed at a distance. Morgan looked around the area.

"So that's Gideon? The Gideon. The one who caught that guy, Adrian Bail, in Boston?" the officer asked.

"Yep. That's him. But catching him cost us six agents." Gideon walked to the spot and looked around. In his mind, he heard the woman's scream echoing. Morgan walks up to him. "22-year-old Anne Cushing was found right here. Nails clipped just like the others. He wants them to fight back." Gideon looked down at the photo in his hand. It's on Anne Cushing.

"But not enough to hurt him. And he left the belt around her neck." He handed the photo back to Morgan. "He's probably in his early 20s."

Morgan shook his head. "What's your reasoning?"

"Youthful arrogance." Gideon turned and looked around. Morgan sighed.

"He clothed the body before dumping it."

"That's a sign of remorse."

"It's not consistent. Look where we are. His opinion of women is pretty clear, don't you think?"

"They're disposable."

"Why show remorse by taking the time to dress her but then dump her here?" Gideon stopped as he thought about it.

A sandy-colored dog barked at Reid and Hotchner. Reid is startled. David Woodland grabbed the dog's collar. "Sandy, no, no, no. I'm so sorry."

"No, it's okay. It's what we call the Reid effect," Hotch explained. They glanced over at Reid. "Happens with children, too. I'm Agent Hotchner. This is Special Agent Dr. Reid."

"You look too young to have gone to medical school."

"They're Ph.D.s. --three of them," Reid said.

"Are you a genius or something?" Hotch starts petting the dog.

DR. SPENCER REID: I don't believe that intelligence can be accurately quantified-" Reid began, "-but I do have an IQ of 187 and an eidetic memory and can read 20,000 words per minute…" Seeing the look on David's face, he said, "Yes, I'm a genius." Reid turned and looked around the room as Sandy began barking.

Hotch looked down at the dog as he continued petting her. "Sandy, you get a lot of attention, don't you?"

"Yeah, Heather loves this dog. I feed her when Heather's away. Usually, she's fine, but ... lately, she won't eat. It's almost like she can sense something's wrong."

"Not sense. Smell. Our apocrine sweat gland releases secretions in response to emotional stress," Reid explained.

Hotch explained in plain English. "Sandy's worried because she knows you are." David nodded. Reid looked at the magazines on the dresser.

Reid picked up a magazine. "David, does your sister drive a Datsun Z?"

"No, but she's in the market for one. How'd you know?" Reid picked up the magazine and showed it to them. Sandy barked. "Come on, Sandy." David took Sandy out of the room.

Hotch looked at Reid. "There's an immediate relationship established between a buyer and a seller, a level of trust. If I want to coax a young woman into my car..."

Hotch nodded in understanding. "Offer her a test drive."

Regina sat in the conference room of the Seattle field office, looking through autopsy files. Her cell phone rang. "Are you alone?" JJ asked.

"Yes… you guys need to stop calling me."

"Got it. How are you?"

"JJ…"

"Regina, we love you. We want to make sure you are alright."

"I know… and I love you guys too… I'm sorry. I'm fine. Hotch's fine. We've agreed to try to get along for this case."

An agent walked in with another file. "Heather Woodland," she mouthed.

Regina nodded. "Jayge, I have to go. Look we'll talk in more detail when I get back… Yeah, you, me, Garci and a big bottle of Vodka… Bye." The agent threw the file next to Regina.

"Have fun," she said.

"Thanks," Regina laughed.

The agent turned to leave but turned back to Regina. "Elle Greenaway…" She held out her hand.

"Regina Williams." Regina took it and they shook.

"So, what's it like working for the BAU?" she asked, sitting on the desk.

"Oh a bundle of fun… I get to come out here with all the guys. My best friends get to stay home, in their own beds, with their own food…"

"Yeah, plane food must suck," Elle said. She nodded to the files. "Got anything yet?" she asked.

"I'll know more when my team get back…"

"Well, I'll let you get back… Hate to rub it in, but, uh, I'm going to the gym…with my best friends."

She nodded. "Nice."

"Sorry."

She left Regina alone. It was the first time Regina had been alone with her thoughts since she had started back at the BAU again. She was thankful that it wasn't for long.

The team met again at the conference room.

They told each other what they had found out. Morgan tossed a baseball and paced the floor as he thought. "Okay, then how 'bout the fact that on one hand, we have paranoid psychosis ... but the autopsy protocol says what?"

Reid started twirling around and around in his office chair. Regina flipped through the autopsy reports. "Adhesive residue shows he put layer after layer of duct tape over his victims' eyes," she said. Hotchner listened as they talked, as does Gideon, standing on the other end of the room looking at the photos on the wall.

"He knows he wants to kill them, but he still covers their eyes."

"He doesn't want 'em looking at him," Regina said.

"Okay, but then he takes the body and dumps it right out in the open, murder weapon nearby."

"Not the MO of a paranoid convinced he's being watched or surveilled," Reid said.

"Paranoid psychosis, but behavior that's not paranoid."

"Maybe he's schizophrenic," Hotch thought.

"Maybe we just don't have enough for a complete profile."

"We have enough to narrow our list of suspects," Hotch countered.

"We're looking at less than 12 hours to have to find this woman," Morgan said.

"We don't know exactly what--"

"Hey, Hotch, we don't know anything!"

"All right, enough." Gideon spoke. Everyone went quiet. "Let's tell them we're ready."

Gideon turned and headed out of the room. Hotchner, Regina and Reid are very quiet; Hotch looks down, Reid continues to spin, Regina is clicking her pen.

Morgan is stunned. "We're ready?" Gideon left the room without answering him. Morgan looked at the others. "Reg, Reid. You're good with this? We've got a woman who's only got a few hours left to live, an incomplete profile, and a unit chief on the verge of a nervous breakdown."

The door opened and Gideon rushed back in to grab something. "They don't call them nervous breakdowns anymore." Again, he left the room.

"It's called a major depressive episode," Reid said.

"I know, Reid."

Regina and Hotch quickly glanced at each other. Regina stood up. She walked past Morgan. "Just back off, Morgan."

Gideon makes the presentation, as the team stood by a far wall.

"The unidentified subject is white and in his late 20s. He's someone you wouldn't notice at first. He's someone who'd blend into any crowd. The violent nature of the crime suggests a previous criminal record -- petty crimes. Maybe auto theft. We've classified him as an organized killer -- careful. Psychopathic as opposed to psychotic. He follows the news, has good hygiene. He's smart. Because he's smart, the only physical evidence you'll find is what he wants you to find. He's mobile, car in good condition. Our guess -- Jeep Cherokee, tinted windows. The murders have all involved rapes. But rape without penetration is a form of piquerism, and that tells us he's sexually inadequate. Psychiatric evaluations will show a history of paranoia stemming from a childhood trauma-- death of a parent or family member. And now he feels persecuted and watched. Murder gives him a sense of power. Organized killers have a fascination with law enforcement. They will inject themselves into the investigation. They will even come forward as witnesses to see just how much the police really know. That makes them feel powerful, in control. Which is why I also think ... in fact, I know ... you have already interviewed him."

Later that night, Regina is walking across the street toward the Slessman house. She glances behind her, then hurries up the grass and up the porch stairs. She knocks on the door. The door opens. An old woman with an oxygen tank, wearing a nasal canula and leaning heavily on a cane answers the door. In the background, we see a young woman carrying a toddler.

"Hi," Regina began. "I'm sorry to bother you. I'm house-sitting down the street, and when I got back, the door was wide open, and the lights weren't working. I feel stupid asking this, but is there someone who might be able to take a look inside with me?"

Mrs. Slessman turns and calls up the stairs. "Richard. Richard, get down here!"

Slessman and Regina walk across the street toward the house.

"Are you sure you locked it?" Slessman asked.

"Yeah."

They walked up the front steps. He turned on his flashlight and pushed the door open.

"Hello?"

He stepped into the house slowly and looked around. Regina followed him inside. He walked deeper into the house, looking at the dining room area.

"Hello!" Slessman called.

Suddenly, armed FBI agents burst out from their hiding places.

"FBI! Freeze!" an agent said. Richard is surprised. Elle grabs his hands, twisting them behind his back. He dropped the flashlight and falls forward to his knees. "Get him down!" She takes out her handcuffs and cuffs him.

"Richard Slessman, FBI. You are under arrest." Richard turns and looks to the side. Gideon steps forward and looks at him. Richard smiles back at him.

_**Emerson said, "All is riddle, and the key to a riddle ... is another riddle."**_

The front door of the Slessman home opened and Hotch rushed in with other agents quickly following.

"I'm going up," he said, as he ran up the stairs. Gideon walked into the house; Reid, Morgan and Regina joining him.

"There's no sign of the girl here. We can arrest him with probable cause, but we won't be able to hold him," Reid stated. Gideon walked down the hallway enough to glance into the kitchen. He saw Mrs. Slessman sitting at the kitchen table, a woman carrying a baby standing next to her. "Slessman's been at the top of the suspect list."

"Is that the mother?" Elle stepped into the hallway.

"Grandmother. The mother died in a fire when he was 13."

Gideon walked past her and toward the kitchen. "Probably not the only fire in his childhood."

Reid looked around the room, Regina and Morgan standing behind him. "Before his "Son of Sam" murders, David Berkowitz set a multitude of fires.

"Exactly how much is a multitude?" Morgan asked.

"According to his diary, 1,400 and ..."

" ... 88," Regina finished for him.

Gideon turned to Elle. "Luring him out was your idea, right? Greenaway?"

"Elle. I don't send a SWAT team into a house with children."

"Hotch says your background is in sex offender cases. What can you tell us?"

"The last four murders show he's an anger-excitation rapist. He'll keep a victim for a couple of days. He probably records or videotapes them so that he can keep reliving the fantasy."

Gideon turned to Regina. "You okay with Hotch being in on the interview?"

"I'd like him to lead, actually," Regina said.

"Fine. But hold off. Slessman's done time, and he knows the process. And all you will get now is a demand for a lawyer."

Gideon turned and headed out. Elle looked a little disappointed. "Hotch," he called up the stairs, "let's check the garage, then show me what you got."

As Hotch was going down the stairs, Regina went up

When they came back into the house they joined Reid and Regina in the attic. Elle soon walked into the attic to find them there. They're all staring at a Go board. Hotch stood in the back of the room behind them.

"What kind of game is it?" Elle asked.

"In China, it's called Wei- Chi. Here we call it "Go". It's considered to be the most difficult board game ever conceived," Regina announced. She and Reid were bent over the board game.

"Chairman Mao required his generals to learn it," Gideon stated.

"It also looks like he's playing himself," Reid said.

"How can you tell?" Elle asked.

Reid reached down and spun the board.

"This might provide an advantage, actually," Regina said. "Go is considered to be a particularly psychologically revealing game. There are profiles for every player -- The Conservative Point Counter, The Aggressor, The Finesser."

"What kind of player is Slessman?" Hotch asked.

Regina leaned forward to study the board for a moment. She looked at Hotch. "Extreme Aggressor."

Elle, Reid, Gideon, Regina and Hotch left the attic, heading straight for the second floor bedroom just as Morgan finishes setting up a laptop to get into Richard's computer.

"Okay, here we go," Morgan was saying.

The laptop began to hum and a DEADBOLT DEFENSE login appears on the screen.

"What's the number 6 at the bottom of the screen?" Elle asked.

"Number of password attempts before the program wipes the hard drive."

"There could be an email or a journal in the computer, something that tells us where Heather is. Do you think you can break in?" Suddenly, Gideon is listening in on their conversation.

"In six tries?" Morgan scoffed and shook his head.

" 'Try again. Fail again. Fail better.'" Morgan looked at Reid.

Reid nodded. "Samuel Beckett."

Morgan blinked." 'Try not. Do. Or do not,'"

Regina looked Gideon. "Yoda."

Gideon turned and looked on the small wall shelf. He suddenly sees something and reaches out to grab a book from the bottom of the stack. He pulls the book out and looks at it. The title of the book is "Journal of Applied Criminal Psychology." He flips through the pages of the book and finds a newspaper clipping inside. The partial headline reads: "-BLAST KILLS SIX". The photo under it shows two men. One of them is Gideon, his hands and pants bloodied. Reid, who is standing next to Gideon also looking at the news article, looks at Gideon.

"I wanna talk to him." Gideon closes the textbook and heads out of the room.

Regina and Morgan look up from the laptop as Gideon leaves.

Regina, Reid and Hotch follow Gideon downstairs. Regina and Reid wait in the living room. "_Do_ you think Gideon will be ok?"

Reid said nothing.

Minutes later Gideon walked out of the room and the house. Hotch followed. Reid went back upstairs.

Regina was left to her thoughts. Then something hit her she ran outside to Hotch and Gideon.

"What is it?" Hotch asked as he turned to her.

Regina smiled. "Conflicts in the profile."

"Two different behaviors."

Gideon smiled. "Two different people. There's a second killer."

Regina stayed with Morgan while Reid, Hotch, Gideon and Elle went back to the field office. She was on the phone.

"You've reached Penelope Garcia in the FBI's Office of Supreme Genius".

"First, ask me how I am and I will end you…"

"Got it…"

"Second, I need you to work me some magic here. I got a program called Deadbolt Defense and a girl with only a couple of hours to live, so what do you know?

"Then you've got a problem. Deadbolt's the number one password crack-resistant software out there. You're gonna have to get inside this guy's head to get the password."

"I thought I was calling the 'Office of Supreme Genius'."

"Well, gorgeous, you've been rerouted to the office of 'Too Friggin' Bad.'"

Regina took a deep breth. "Thanks anyway." She hung up.

Morgan agrees to stay at the house while Regina goes to the office to help Hotch with the interviews. She and Reid are standing at a desk. Hotchner enters the office and heads for them.

"We get an address on Linder?" he asked.

"It's coming right now," Regina replied looking at the machine.

Hotch hands something to the agent sitting at the desk.

"Does senior management want a field assessment on Gideon?" Reid asked.

Hotch looked form one to the other. "Don't worry about it," he replied quietly.

"Are they nervous about him being in charge?"

"Aren't you on your way back to Slessman's house to help Morgan?" He turned and walked away for a moment.

"Do you know why he always introduces me as Dr. Reid?" Hotch turned and headed back toward them.

"He knows that people see you as a kid, and he wants to make sure that they respect you…" Reid nodded and walked off. He looked at Regina. "What's the address?"

"Don't think it matters anymore."

Hotch sighed. They look at the fax printout.

_**Winston Churchill said, "The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you will see.**_

Later, Hotch and Regina entered the observation room. Two agents were in the room. Hotch lowered the room temperature.

The male agent leaned over to the female agent. "What's he doing?"

Lowering the room temp. The cold puts them on edge.

Hotch turned to the two agents. "Okay, so I want an SPD, and I want a Seattle agent in the room. I want him to see that we've got every department working on this. And I need some file boxes. Fill them. I don't care if the paper's blank. And I want you to write the name on the sides." Hotch and Regina left the room.

They soon entered the interview room carrying a file box. The other agents followed them inside, each carrying a file box. Hotch stood in front of Richard, while Regona took a corner.

"Four months of investigative work, one file, and guess what, Richard. It's not your file. See, we don't care about you." Hotch slid the box toward Richard. On the side is read: 621209-05; TIMOTHY VOGEL; VOG. 216210. "It's Vogel we want." He starts walking as he talks. "We found out Heather was buying a used car. You know how car salesmen get us to buy a car? They call it reciprocity. They drop the price and ... feels like they've done us a favor. We feel obligated. There's a sudden pressure to reciprocate this one little favor. And it's so powerful that we'll ... put a deposit down on a car we're not even sure we really want.

"So what?" Richard asked casually.

"So Vogel did you a favor. He protected you in prison, and now you feel like you owe him and you need to protect him. Guys like Vogel learn in the schoolyard which kids to bully and which kids to protect, and he's got you convinced that you owe him so much that you'll go to jail for him. Richard ... I'm here to remind you of something. You owe him nothing."

Suddenly Regina's phone rang. She looked at the name and then up at Hotch. He followed her outside.

She put Gideon on speaker phone as the walked to an office. "Hotch, he's gonna kill her. He's heading there now. We need a location."

Hotch is pacing around the room. "I don't have enough time to get it out of him."

"Find something, Hotch, or that girl is dead." He hung up. He threw a glance at Regina and they moved again, heading back for the interview room, tossing ideas. "We could say something and hope it works…" she offered.

"And if it doesn't anything we say to him, he'll believe is just a guess…"

"Well then we need a miracle…" As if someone else had heard her her cell phone rang again… Morgan. She put him on speaker phone. "Vogel's on his way to her and we have nothing," she announced.

"We do… We got webcam images of Heather… She's on a boat."

"She's on a boat? Where?" Hotch asked, hopeful.

"It's a pier or a dock. He wouldn't be able to transmit the Webcam image from the middle of the ocean."

"You're sure about this."

"It's the best we got, Hotch," Regina said.

"Even if we're right, getting the exact location's on you, my friend," Morgan told them.

Hotch smiled slightly, the smile that had previously made Regina weak in the knees. Now when she saw it, made her want to make an artificial night and hop into bed, crying, being comforted by her mother. "What is it you always ask Garcia?"

"To work me a little magic."

Regina take that as the end of the conversation and hangs up. Hotch opens the interview room door.

Regina took a corner again and Hotch stared at one of the screens on the wall showing Slessman.

"Just to let you know ... Gideon's talking to Vogel ... and Vogel's nailing you to the wall." He began walking around the room.

"Yeah, whatever."

"He said it was your idea to keep the girls on a boat. He's talking, Richard. Reciprocity. Tell me where she is, and we make a deal. Is it a dock? A pier?"

Richard hesitated before answering. "It's a shipyard. Allied Shipyard."

Regina hurries out of the room. Hotch comes to stand beside her as Gideon picks up. "Allied Shipyard…"

Hotch's cell rings this time. He answers. He is silent for a moment and hangs up. "It was Morgan. Vogel's in the room with her."

"Let's go."

When the arrive at the shipyard, paramedics following, the find a bleeding Gideon, propped up against some boxes, and Elle comforting Heather, Regina rushes to help her.

The sun began to rise as Reid and Morgan arrived. Heather is on a gurney as Gideon looks down at her. He puts a hand on her forehead, turns and leaves as the EMTs put Heather into the back of an ambulance. Gideon walks away. Hotchner and Regina sit on the side watching Gideon. She soon leaves when she sees Reid and Morgan carrying coffees. She smiles as she passed by Morgan to head up to Reid.

"So I hear you figured out the password… Nice work, Genius boy."

He smiles and hands her a cup of coffee. "So how'd it go?" he asked.

Regina smiled in response, unsure of the answer. As they walked toward Hotch and Morgan she began thinking. It was great she was able to work with him with out falling apart but she wondered how long it would last.

"Guess what Gideon means in Hebrew?" Hotch asked Morgan. Reid and Regina pass by and hear the question.

He answers. "Mighty warrior. Appropriate." They walk away. Regina smiles at him, unknowing that behind her Hotch is doing the same thing.

It's late that night as they leave Seattle. Regina is at the front of the plane, reading a book; Morgan is sleeping in his seat, the file he's reading off to the side; Reid is lying across several chairs. He rolls over and clutches his jacket closer. Gideon is awake. Hotch walks over to him with a cup of coffee in his hand. He sits on the armrest across the aisle from Gideon. Regina watches them, barely hearing their conversation, unable to help it.

"Hey," Hotch said

"You and Haley pick the baby's name yet?"

"It's funny ... Haley liked the name Charles, but, you know ... all I could think of ..."

Gideon chuckled, knowing the answer. "Manson."

"Then there was Henry."

"Lee Lucas."

"Uh ... Jeffrey."

"Dahmer."

"There's just too many of them."

"Kind of hard to feel good about catching one when you know there are fifty more still out there." Hotch stood to leave. "How's your report going?" Hotch smiles and scratches his head, busted. "Didn't think you could hide that from an old profiler, now, did ya?"

His smile changed. "You know, you saved that girl today. You can feel good about that."

"It is good. It's a good thing."

Hotch put a hand on Gideon's shoulder. Regina looked down as Hotch turned and walked away.

His next stop was at the back of the plane. He sat across the table from her. "Hey," he said to Regina. She didn't look up. "Damn Reg, what do you want me to do?" he asked, looking at her pleadingly.

"You want to know what I want," she asked. When she looked up at him, it took all her strength to keep the tears that were preparing to fall in place. "I want you to leave your wife, to tell me you love me and not her…I want you to go back in time and have not married her or have told me about her, or not made stay or pushed me away before we slept together or chose me over her… But you can't do any of that…"

He began saying something but stopped. He looked down. "No, I can't. But if I could I would, do all that stuff."

Hotch stood and left, leaving her tears to silently flow freely.


	2. Compulsion

**COMPULSION**

Regina was still in her pyjamas when she ran outside to grab her mail. She walked out at the exact same time a familiar old friend started washing his car next door.

She walked over to him. "Hey, Dan…" she said, leaning against the door.

"Hi, I haven't seen you around here for a while…"

"Yeah, I've been staying at a friend's…" When she had broken up with Aaron, Regina had temporarily moved out of her house and in with Garcia. Now she had moved back in.

She felt sudden happiness at seeing a friendly face that had absolutely no idea as to what had happened. Her smile grew.

"What?" he asked.

Regina shook her head. "Nothing… It's just good to see you again, Dan."

"You too, Reg. We should hang out sometime."

She hesitated. "Sometime… I have to go…"

When she got to work she headed straight for the coffee machine. Newbie Elle Greenaway was there.

"Hey Regina…"

"Oh, hi Elle… anyone else in?"

"Gideon and Hotch are up in their offices. The others are around somewhere…"

"Thanks…" Regina took her coffee and headed for Gideon's office. She had barely seen him since she'd gotten his call when he apprehended the Footpath Killer.

When she reached the office, he was speaking to three trainees. "Right. But sometimes these guys are still found by just dumb luck. Berkowitz was caught because of a parking ticket."

"Except the cop who caught him wasn't staring down a shotgun like you were," Regina praised.

"This is true. This is also a good time to stop."

Once the room was empty, Regina walked in. "Okay, I'm curious. Why'd he stutter?"

"You tell me." Regina eyed him suspiciously. He smiled at her and walked out of the office. She closely followed.

She walks up to Morgan. "Question for you."

"Shoot."

"The 'Footpath Killer,' why did he stutter?"

"Come on, Reg, we've all asked him, and he won't say. He wants us to figure it out."

"Okay. I'm up for a challenge." She looks up in time to see JJ and Hotch talking on the landing. Hotch turns and heads for the Round Table Room.

"BAU team, can you meet me in the conference room, please? I need to show you something."

Five minutes later, after watching a slightly disturbing video of a murder, they decided to leave for Bradshaw College in Tempe, where six fires had occurred in seven months

_**Einstein once said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."**_

On a forty five minute flight, the team threw ideas around.

"There are two common stressors for a serial arsonist. Loss of job, loss of love," Reid explained.

Morgan pulled up a calendar on the laptop. "When was the first fire set?"

Regina looked through a file. "March. Uh, the next one was in May, and the third one wasn't till September, then two weeks later there were three in one night," she reads while Morgan marks them on the calendar. "He's speeding up. Fires are closer together."

"Hey, Reid, you got a statistic on arsonists?"

"Eighty-two percent are white males between 17 and 27. Female arsonists are far less likely, their motive typically being revenge."

"Sounds like our boy's a student."

"Oh, don't be so sure," Gideon said. "You rely too much on precedent, you never allow for the unexpected. If he went from setting one fire to three in two weeks' time ..."

"Rapid escalation," Hotch finished.

"He's gone from the power to damage a building to something far more satisfying. The power over life and death."

"Who are we talking to first?" Regina asked.

"Dean of students, Ellen Turner."

They arrive at lunch, and walk out of the SUVs, looking round.

They follow Gideon toward the building. "No badges. I don't want to satisfy the unsub's need for attention by letting him know he got the FBI here. Try not to look official." He quickly glanced over his shoulder at the team standing in a line at the top of the stairs - in their suits, ties, and sunglasses. The team look at one another, taking in. "Try to look LESS official."

Regina observes Reid. "Don't worry, Kid, you'll fit right in."

For the rest of the day, the team brainstormed ideas: was the unsub setting fires for vandalism, crime concealment, political statement, profit or revenge.

Regina spent the rest of the day with Hotch and Reid. She felt a stab of pain when the fire alarm went off and she felt a surge of happiness to be away from him that she took off toward the sound at full speed. She reached the building in time to see Morgan dragging Gideon out.

Elle was standing next to her. Hotch came up to them. He turned to Elle. "Get pictures. He might be watching."

He wasn't... but they never found out if Clara Hayes, the unsub, was. Regina finally found out why Gideon told everyone he knew what caused a stutter: to provoke.

The team arrived home exhausted. They immediately went to their homes. Regina checked her messeges as soon as she got in the door.

"Hey Regina, it's Dan. Listen, I was wondering if you wanted to grab a drink some time... let me know ok. Bye."

Regina sighed and deleted the messege. She just wasn't ready yet.


	3. Author's Note

I just really want to explain something to everyone. Personal preference is forcing me to be less... somewhat less caring (not exactly the word I was looking for). Hence the reason I've been skipping episodes. Once I get past season 2, the story should get a bit more.... better. (I hate not being able to think of words you need.) Please review! I could really use the help!

xoxo

Lex


	4. Broken Mirror

JJ and Regina stood by the coffee machine. Regina was staring into space.

"Earth to Reg… You ok?"

Regina smiled. "Yeah, I'm good…"

"Are you sure… You've been weird for a couple of weeks now?"

"Dan's been asking me out…"

"Really? And?"

"I've been deleting his messages… I can't turn him down. I can't accept. I'm caught in limbo because of him." She pointed up to Hotch.

"Go out with him… What's the worst that could happen?"

"I could get hurt… Or I could be incredibly bored."

JJ looked at her. "I went out with Reid."

Regina laughed. "Now, I would go out with Reid…"

"Oh, God."

Just then, Reid and Morgan walked past to their desks. JJ left and Regina walked up to them. "Hey boys. Any word on the Davenport case?"

"I think we're about to find out." Reid indicated up to Hotch's office

"Document's up on the screen regarding the kidnapping of Trish Davenport," he called as he walked past.

"Have you read them yet?" Reid asked.

"Yeah, I got a copy from the document examiner."

"And?" Regina asked.

"We've got until eight o'clock tonight."

They walk into the Round Table room. Reid read the note aloud.

"You will follow instructions carefully. You will do this to ensure the safety of your daughter. You will wait for the call. You will answer the call at 8:00 P.M. You will write down the instructions and follow them to the letter."

"We have less then nine hours," Hotch stated.

"How do we know the letter's real?" Gideon asked.

"Handwriting's a match for Trish's. He dictated it to her, and they found saline on the paper."

"Her tears."

"He never says 'I.'" Morgan states. "He doesn't say "I will call." He says, "You will

answer the call." He's distancing himself from the kidnapping. If he said "I", he'd be taking responsibility for it."

"There's also another missing element," Hotch said.

"No mention of the police. Ransom notes almost always forbid police involvement."

"So is he expecting law enforcement to get involved?"

"Well, if he's expecting us, let's not disappoint him," Gideon said before leaving the room.

AUAUAUAUAUAUAUAUAUAUAUA

Sleep was overcoming Regina. It was only eight- fifty. Morgan was resting his eyes next to her while Gideon talked to Davenport and Reid to Garcia. Elle was nowhere to be seen.

_Coffee… I need coffee._

She headed for the kitchen. Hotch was on the phone. Regina winced to herself. If she walked out now he'd think she was avoiding him. Which was partly true: she didn't want to be alone in the room with him.

He turned to her and smiled. She made a beeline for the coffee machine.

"I know… You'll be fine." Pause. "Well, the doctors told you to rest so you don't really have a choice." Another pause. _This is murder, _she thought. "I should be there… They can cope without me… Alright… If you're sure… I'll be home as soon as I can!" A long pause, in which Hotch glanced over at Regina. "Me too. Bye." He closed down his phone and walked over to Regina. "Hey…"

"He'll be ringing soon."

"Yeah…" He stared down at his cell. "That was Hailey-"

"Figures."

"She, um… She's in labour…"

"Elle mentioned."

"Reg…"

"The only thing that's keeping me from putting a bullet through your head right now is being cold so be thankful." She was fully turned to him now.

They were interrupted as Reid, Elle and Morgan walked into the room.

"You think Cheryl's a whack job because she claims she can feel her sister's anxiety?" Elle asked Morgan.

"I never said whack job."

"Actually there may be a physiological basis for it," Reid started.

Elle looked at Morgan. "Don't ask."

"Reversed asymmetry monozygotic eggs split late, between 9 to 12 days. The DNA matches right

down to the very last stranded code, and there's sporadic documentation of shared physiological pain."

Regina looked at him in disbelief. "And you believe it?"

"No, I'm just saying it's possible. I don't know everything." He tuned to Morgan. "I mean, despite the fact that you think that I do."

"I never said that. When have I ever said that?"

"Every day since I met you."

"This morning at breakfast," Regina offered.

Hotch stepped in, looking at his watch. "Yesterday when he beat you at cards. Um

... we've got one minute." The group left the kitchen and headed for the living room.

"Anybody ever heard of sarcasm?" Morgan asked.

The unsub rang right on time. Suprising everyone in the room, he asked to talk to Cheryl, the twin sister. His request was five hundred thousand dollars. He wanted Cheryl to drop of the money at three a.m.

Morgan, Hotch and Regina agreed to follow her to the drop off point. Reid got the location of a rental car lot.

"You know my guess?" Regina asked. "One of these cars is already set to go with a cell in it."

"So she switches cars and phones," Hotch agreed.

Morgan nodded and checked his watch. "T minus five minutes." Regina glanced at him. "I've always wanted to say that." He paused. "He's probably gonna have her drive around for over an hour just to make sure no one's following her."

"And then the ransom drop."

"Yeah."

In the back seat, Regina started fidgeting with their seats.

"What is it? What's the matter?" Hotch asked.

"Something's not right about this. What if he was watching us or listening to us?"

"The local office did a bug sweep," Morgan stated.

"Come on, you heard that ransom was way too simple."

Hotch turned to face her fully. "All right, you're the unsub. What would you have done differently?"

Regina takes a deep breath. "I would have said don't involve the police or the media. Five hundred thousand dollars. No consecutive serial numbers on the bills. No marked bills.

No new bills... No tracking devices in the money bag. No explosive dyes in the

money bag. No tracking devices in the car."

"Why didn't he say any of this?"

Regina shook her head a sighed. "I don't kn-" She stopped. "It was never about the money," she realised an instance before Hotch and Morgan.

"It's not a ransom drop."

"It's a second kidnapping."

The three run out of the car to get to Cheryl.

"Cheryl, stop!"

"Get down! Get down! "

Regina reached Cheryl first. She ran past her. "Don't move!"

A black car turned out of a stall and left parking lot. Morgan and Hotch both fired their guns and hit the back of the car.

As soon as they were in the Davenport's front door, the phone rang again.

"That was fun, wasn't it? A little running around, getting our pulses racing. Are you there, Cheryl?" No one answered. "Are you there?! Tell me you didn't feel a slight tingle, a thrill run up your spine. Huh? But those clever and cunning FBI agents deduced my little plan just in time. They figured it out. If they hadn't, I would have had you both. The whole set. The matching pair."

"Why are you doing this?" Cheryl asked.

"Because you asked me to, Cheryl. You asked me with your glances. The way you talk. Those little gestures."

"What do you want?"

"What do I want?! You! It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but I promise you, we will be together."

AUAUAUAUAUAUAUAUAUA

The team are in the kitchen. Gideon peels an orange and hands a segment to each of the team as they discuss the case.

Hotch turned to Morgan. "Crime of obsession. Your specialty, your lead, Morgan."

"I think we should recheck everyone on Davenport's staff against the profile of a stalker."

"Aren't stalking behaviors pretty diverse?" Regina asked.

"There's overlap. Narcissistic, inflated sense of self-worth, history of bad relationships."

"What do we know so far?" Hotch asked.

"He's probably white, obviously male ... Sophisticated speech patterns."

"Sophisticated, yet bizarre," Gideon announced. "He rarely uses contractions. It's not

"you're," it's "you are."

"This guy's pretentious. He wants to sound smarter than he actually is. Whatever position of authority or level of success this guy has, he had to struggle for it."

"We also have to face the possibility at this point ..." Hotch started

"... that Trish may already be dead," Regina finished.

The phone began ringing in the other room. Gideon picks up… then hangs up.

Again the phone rings… again he hangs up.

"Agent Gideon ..." Evan Davenport began.

Finally Gideon answers. "Hello?"

Tell me there was a technical issue with the line, because if you actually just hung up on m—"

He didn't get to finish. Gideon hung up again.

"What the hell are you doing?" Evan Davenport exclaimed.

The phone rang again.

"I'm saving your daughter, Mr. Davenport."

Gideon answered the phone again.

"Put Cheryl on the phone."

"No. You're finished talking to Cheryl."

"Listen to that tone of authority. Just like your published work, Agent Gideon. Fascinating to hear the same arrogant quality in your own voice. You are a bit of a pedant, Jason, a bit didactic?"

"Well, that's a very interesting conclusion. You sound intelligent, and you certainly sound educated, and ... (exhales loudly, condescendingly) ... we both know that's not true."

"Oh, I know all about all of you. The ambitious Agent Hotchner? Do you wanna be director of the FBI someday, Agent Hotchner? Would you step on Jason Gideon to get there? I think you would. Posttraumatic stress is a very good excuse. Even your sick, pregnant wife can't get you to leave your post." The team glanced at Hotch. Regina could see his jaw set. "Jason Gideon, an expert in the criminal psyche, yet unable to diagnose the autistic leanings of the very insecure Dr. Reid. Well, maybe he can make money counting cards in Las Vegas. The lovely Elle was promoted too soon. Regina doesn't have what it takes to make it in the BAU boys club. You're

no threat to me, you're no threat to anyone. And token Derek Morgan wants to be taken seriously, but he is just a pumped-up side of beef. I know who you are, I know how you think, and I know what to do next! Do you?"

The unsub was the one to hang up this time.

"What the hell was that? Why did he say that he knows what to do next? Is he gonna hurt my daughter?" Davenport asked.

"He was grandstanding. I have learned more in the last five minutes than in the

last 24 hours."

"We are interfering in his relationship with the girls," Regina told him.

"He said he knows all about you."

"Yes, apparently. He profiled us, Mr. Davenport. To show us how smart he is. But he made a mistake, because he gave us something he didn't expect."

"Which is?" Cheryl asked.

"He told us how to find him."

Towards the early hours of the morning, Elle and Morgan took Cheryl to a safe house. Reid and Regina were talking when they made a breakthrough.

"They did a bug sweep, right when we arrived?" Regina asked.

"Yeah, I remember."

"And yet the unsub seems to know all about us. Hey, Reid," she smiled, " do know what non-local interaction is?"

"What are you getting at?"

"How can he be holding Trish prisoner and still know exactly what we're talking about?"

"I know what you're saying. It seems like he knows what's going on here the moment that it happens.

"There's got to be a listening device."

"They swept the room when we got here."

"Yeah. And then they brought in their own equipment ..."

They walk over to the phone box and find the listening device inside.

"Agent Shyer called you by your first name," Regina said to Davenport. "You know him that well?"

"He works out of the New York field office. I know his father. We've met socially on occasion."

"Has he been here before?"

" A few times."

Regina pulls out her phone and rings Morgan. There's no answer. The Davenport's phone rings. It's Elle. "We got him. We know where Trish is."

AUAUAUAUAUAUAUAUAUA

"God, it's good to be home!" Regina states as the team disband back at Quantico: Elle and Morgan get some coffee across the rode; Gideon went home; Hotch is in his office and Regina and Reid are getting their stuff together.

"Hey," Reid started. "How did Elle get Shyer to give us Trish's location?"

Regina smiled: Elle had told her how she had pressed her foot to the man's crotch. "I imagine she found some creative way to persuade him."

"What do you think –"

"You know, you just don't need to ask so many questions. Let's ... just enjoy the moment."

Reid looks past her shoulder. "Later, Reg…"

Regina turned around as Reid walked past Dan. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been calling you and You haven't been returning my calls, so I figured I such just come here… Have you been getting my calls?"

Regina winced. "Yeah… I have… Dan, you're a really sweet guy and I'd love for us to be friends… but um… I got hurt… really bad. I'm just not ready…"

"Right… So if we were to be friends… could I maybe buy you a beer and discuss future possibilities.?"

Regina smiled and bit her lip. Regina instinctively glanced to the side. Hotch was staring out at her. She grinned back at Dan. "Sure… gotta move on, right?"


	5. What Fresh Hell

Regina felt... happy. Sure, she had had to go with JJ to the courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware and explain to a judge why Jason Gideon had thrown a flowerpot through a window and entered a house against the authority of his boss and without a warrant. But that didn't matter... it had helped them save a young girl.

Regina was so happy, in fact, that when Hotch came over and asked if he could sit next to her for take off, she nodded.

He fixed his tie. "You did good work."

"Thank you." She smiled.

He eyed her suspiciously. "It's good to see you smile."

She nodded. "This is the first case in a long time that I can actually feel good and happy over what I did."

"It doesn't come around too often." Regina shook her head.

"Hotch, I'm tired..."

"Well, get some sleep... we've got a couple of hours..."

"No... I mean, I'm tired of this... This is nice..." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I know I've been... very difficult with everything. I'm sorry... Is there some way... Can we forget everything?"

Hotch looked at her and nodded. She smiled at him.

"Hey who wants a game of poker?" Morgan called.


	6. Machisimo

"How goes things with Dan?" JJ asked Regina as they prepared for the briefing.

"We are just friends." JJ raised an eyebrow. "We are just friends." Regina repeated.

"Uh-huh... So when do friend Dan and friend JJ get to meet finally?"

Regina turned to her. "Oh, gosh, you know, I actually set a date for that... November twelfth, two thousand and never."

"Well, I don't see why JJ and Dan can't meet when they are both your friends..." JJ looked over at the door. "Hey, I thought you had the weekend off."

Regina turned and looked at Hotch. He walked over to them. "I had... Gideon called and asked me to come in. What have we got?"

JJ giggled. "You'll know as soon as I do."

"Gideon picked the case," Regina told Hotch. She turned to JJ. "Sweetie, I love you, but if you're Hyper for the rest of this case: my fist; your face. Ok?"

JJ nodded, wide eyed and indicated Regina lead them up the stairs.

Regina had quickly learned to say what was necessary in briefings like a robot...like it was scripted for her. When they got on the plane, that was usually when she voiced her opinion.

The case didn't end as well as they had hoped, but a killer was off the streets. She sat at her desk, breathing deeply.

"You should head home," Hotch told her from behind. "You look beat."

"Thanks... I might just do that." She smiled. "Hotch..." He turned to face her. "Um... I'm glad we can do this... and, um... Happy Birthday."

He smiled at her. "Me too... And, um, thanks."

When Regina got home, she checked her voice messages.

**A/N: The next chapter bears relevence only to Hotch and Regina's relationship, not to the actual show... The storyline is completely fictisious.**


	7. Fear

Hotch stared out the window of his office to the bullpen, looking for Regina, but there was no sign of her. A knock came from the door.

"Yeah."

Elle walked in. "JJ has a case for us in Indianapolis."

"Be right there." Elle turned to leave. "Elle... Is Regina here?"

Elle shrugged. "I haven't seen her."

He rang her cell. "You've reached Regina. Leave a message after the beep and I'll get back to you." _Beep._

"Regina, it's Hotch. Call me when you get this. We have a case... Indianapolis." He hung up.

Regina didn't show up for the briefing. While the team filed out, Hotch remained seated.

"You coming, Hotch?" Gideon asked.

"JJ..." He turned to Gideon. "I'll catch up."

"What's up?" JJ asked.

"Have you been talking to Regina?" She shook her head. "She's not answering her cell."

"That's not like her."

"Neither is not showing up for work."

"Do you want me to check on her?"

Hotch shook his head. "I'll do it. If we miss the plane, we'll get a train." JJ nodded.

It didn't take long for Hotch to arrive at Regina's house. The place was in darkness. "Regina?" he called. "Reg?" He checked all the rooms. In the bedroom he found a bundle under the covers. He found Regina. He shook her gently. "Reg?"

"Hotch?" She turned to face him. "What are you doing here?"

"You missed the briefing."

"I meant to call. I'm just not feeling so well... I was going to call the doctor..." She bit her lip.

He could feel his heart begin to break. "You're not sick are you?"

She nodded her head. "Yeah... I am!" she defended.

"Not physically... You're having a bipolar episode, aren't you?" She looked up at him and he knew he was right. He climbed into the bed next to her, holding her as she cried into his shirt. He knew that there could be consequences.

He stayed with her for three days, never leaving her side. On the third day, he moved into the kitchen to let her change. At one point she was happy, then plunged deeply into depression. He was happy that she had the energy to get up and wondered how long it would last. He was debating over what he could make with gone off can of baked beans and a loaf of stale bread when she came out in white sweats. He looked up and smiled.

"How does food poisoning sound?" he asked, straightening up and holding the beans.

"Oh god... I'm sorry. I don't normally eat here. I'm normally at work."

"Feel like going for a walk?"

Regina shook her head. "But go... I'll be ok for ten minutes..." She handed him a fifty. "Go buy what you need for a Hotchner masterpiece... And buy yourself something pretty."

He smiled. "Ten minutes." She nodded before turning and going back to the bedroom.

Hotch cursed himself fifteen minutes later as he waslked into the dark home. "Reg? Sorry it took so long. The queue was crazy and... Reg?" He looked around for signs of life. _Shit,_ he thought to himself. He put the groceries down and headed for the bedroom. It was empty. He heard a groan from the bathroom and raced in. He found Regina against the bath, broken mirror around her, her white sweats covered in blood. Shards of mirror were coming from her arm.

"Shit, Reggi... what did you do?" he asked, inspecting the damage. "It's really close to the veins... Come on, up," he ordered.

He brought her to the hospital. He waited two hours before demanding to know what was happening. The nurse eyed him. "You're not family... legally or biologically?"

Hotch sighed, exasperated. "No... but I'm all she has in DC. Please..." Hotch knew he had to face a painful truth. "...she's important to me."

The nurse scrutinised him. She nodded. "It was far too close for comfort... One of the shards nicked a vein... She very nearly died if she hadn't been so disorientated..." She led him down the hall. "She sleeping right now. We have her under heavy sedation. But you can stay with her." She pointed to the room and Hotch smiled, grateful.

He stayed; held her hand; stroked her hair. He fell asleep in the early hours of the morning and was woken by gentle shaking at noon. The nurse smiled. "We need you to step outside for a second." Hotch nodded.

He pulled out his cell phone in the hall and waited.

_"Gideon."_

"It's me..." He told Gideon what happened.

_"God... Will she be all right?"_

"She should be... What happens now?"

_"Professionally... she's an asset and a liability. Personally... the team is all she has... Profiling is all she knows."_

"Frequent psych evals... therapy... maybe-" Hotch sighed. "I need to talk to her before we decide anything."

"Aaron!?" Hotch turned.

"Jason, I have to go."

_"Good Luck."_

Hotch turned to face Haley and her sister. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be in Indianapolis?"

Hotch nodded. "I was... What happened?" he asked his sister-in-law.

"Biking accident."

"What are you doing here?"

"Agent Hotchner?" The nurse stuck her head out. "We're waking her up now."

"Thank you."

"Waking who up?" Haley demanded.

"Regina." There was no use lying.

Haley was stunned. "You rang me four days ago telling me that you had to be in Indianapolis... Instead you've been sleeping with your ex!"

"Haley, she's bipolar... Listen to me... She didn't show up for work. I was worried. I found her curled up in a ball in her apartment. I couldn't leave her: I thought she'd do something to herself. When I did leave to do some shopping for her, she smashed a mirror and nearly killed herself!"

"Aaron! I'm sorry for her. I am... but you lied to me." Hotch was barely listening. He was looking at a disoriented Regina waking up. "When will be home?"

He looked at her. "When the team gets back. When JJ or Garcia or Reid or Morgan or Elle can take care of her. When Jason and I decide what happens from here."

"And what about your son?" He didn't get a chance to answer. She was down the hall. Jessica shook her head and slowly followed.

Hotch moved into the room. He grabbed Regina's hand and held tightly, smiling. "Hey."

"Hi." She smiled weakly. "What happened? What am I doing here?"

"I was hoping you could tell me. When I came back, your bathroom mirror was broken and you had bits of it sticking out of you."

"Back from where?"

"The store... you were out of food. You don't remember?" She shook her head.

"Last thing I remember was coming home and checking my messeges."

"Were there any?"

"A few. One from Dan...my neighbour. One from a friend." She closed her eyes. "That must have been what set me off."

"How do you mean?"

"When I was in highschool, I was seeing this boy. My friends ditched me cause they didn't like him... He ditched me because he liked one of them too much... They've been seeing each other ever since and are..." She cleared her throat. "...engagaed." Hotch winced for her. "She was ringing to tell me... that must have been it." They were silent. "What happens now?" she asked finally.

"I don't know." He looked at her fragile form and loosened his grip on her hand. "When Gideon gets back, we'll discuss the best choices. Someone will come to stay with you."

She smiled. "You look different with..." She gestured to his face.

Hotch felt. "Ahh." He hadn't shaved in a day."

"You didn't have to stay with me."

Hotch stared at her, searching for something. "I know."

He stayed all that night. In the afternoon, Hotch left her to get changed. When he came back with flowers in hand, JJ and Garcia were sitting on the bed.

They stared at him, stunned.

"Hi. How was the case?"

"Fine. Clean arrest," JJ announced, looking from Hotch to Regina.

Growing uncomfortable, Hotch forgot about the the three women's eye line reminded him. "These are for you.. To get better after the..." They never came up with a story to tell people.

"My food poisoning?" she smiled. Hotch nodded and handed them to her. "They're beautiful. Thank you."

He turned to JJ. "Is Gideon at Quantico?"

She nodded. "He said check your phone and meet him."

He looked at Regina. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. Thank you."

He smiled and left.

**A/N: **_**sorry it took so long. Computer shut down on my first draft. I wanted to get this chapter published so the next one will decide Regina's fate at Quantico.**_


	8. Choices

Gideon and Hotch sat in the dim office facing one another. No one had spoke about Regina since Hotch arrived. Now was the time to bring it up. "She's off her meds."

Gideon stared at her. "What?"

"The nurse told me on my way out. She hasn't been taking them." He took a sip of his steaming coffee.

"Why would she do that?" Hotch shrugged. "She's an exceptional profiler... She may even have more potential then Reid and Morgan combined."

Hotch nodded. "I know. But her safety comes first."

"Monthly doctor appointment; department shrink once a week; biannual psych evals. We'll keep an eye on her at all times."

"Are you putting her ability before her life?" Hotch was getting angry, but not at Gideon.

"You know her best. What would keep her from doing this again?"

Hotch sighed. "Work." He placed his head in his hands. "What am I goning to do, Jason?"

Gideon knew they'd veered away from Regina's health. "She's a profiler. You have a son. If she wasn't, it would be wrong. If you didn't, it would still be wrong."

"We were fine. We were friends. It was..."

"Familiar?" Gideon offered.

Hotch shook his head. "JJ should have checked on her... or Garcia. My going was a bad idea."

"We need to focus on what happens to her now."

Hotch nodded. "We don't have any other choice... Appointments; therapy; evals... We'll see how it goes for a few months. If it doesn't work out, then..."

"I'll do it."

Hotch nodded his thanks. "I should go." He stood and finished his coffee.

"Where?" Gideon asked.

A good question. He didn't know if he wanted to go home or to the hospital.

He chose the hospital.


	9. The Fisher King Pt 1

Regina's first day back at work occured when the team was due vacation. She met Hotch and Gideon in the hallway. "Hi," she said brightly.

"How are you feeling?" Hotch asked, professionally. He figured being personal with her would make his feelings for her erupt even more so.

"Better. Thank you...for everything." She pointed this to Hotch.

"Don't mention it." He turned to Gideon. "Will I hold the lift?"

"I'll catch the next one." Hotch nodded and left.

Regina frowned and turned to Gideon. "Is he alright?"

"Don't ask."

Regina nodded. "Thank you, too. I know that if what happened gets out... You and Hotch are putting yourselves on the line."

"If you slip up... If either one of us thinks you're slipping, you're gone."

"I understand."

"Good. Welcome back." He smiled and left.

Regina was greeted next by Elle and Morgan. "You wanna come to Jamica with us?" Elle asked.

Regina smiled. "Sorry. I've already taken four weeks off. I need to do some work."

"Kay, princess," Morgan said, donning his hades. "Don't hurt yourself."

She smiled. She walked over to the kitchenette and reached for the caffine. "Damn it," she muttered, pulling her hand away.

"Puppy, what's wrong?" she heard Garcia ask.

She turned. "Oh nothing... I just can't have caffine or I'll go hyper active."

"Don't you have vacation now?"

Regina nodded. "Yes, but I also have four weeks worth of work to catch up on. Work outweighs vacation time." She sat across from her friend. "Has Hotch been acting weird lately?"

Garcia frowned. "Not that I have noticed. Why? Has he been acting weird with you?"

Regina just shrugged. "Maybe not... Maybe I'm just...making something out of nothing." She smiled. "I better get back to work." Before she did she decided on caffinated coffee. The meds made her restless and She wasn't going to go through one file if she didn't. "Maybe it's just me," she sighed.

It wasn't.

Hotch managed to go through nine boxes of crap in half an hour, his mind not on the task in front of him, but rather on Regina. He and Haley had patched things up since the hospital. He knew she would never forgive him for lying but he also knew that they did both love each other. It was the quantity and quality of his love that was questionable.

He stared at the rest of the boxes he had to go through. He picked up the pirates hat. The pirates hat he wore in Pirates of Penzance, when he played "the worst fourth pirate in history". When he'd met Haley. _Focus, _he told himself. And donning the hat, he pushed aside all thoughts of Regina and set about looking for reasons why he should get to keep the hat.

"Agent Williams?"

Regina looked up and smiled at Anderson. It was late; she hadn't realised. The coffee had given her the kick she needed. enough of the files were done that she could be finished the rest by the end of the week. "Hey. What are you still doing here?"

"I was on my way out. This was at reception." He held up a brown cardboard box and held it out for Regina. "It's adressed to you."

She took it and examined it. "Is there a return address?"

"No address at all. And no stamps. It was hand delivered."

She nodded. "Thanks, Anderson. Goodnight."

"Night." And she was alone. She grabbed her knife from her desk and tore through the tape. Pulling back the flaps, Regina gasped. Inside contained hardback, pocket-sized books of William Shakespeare's plays.

She pulled one out and examined it, then another, and another, hoping there would be some note. There was none.

Little did she know that at that time, Hotch was recieving a phone call; Gideon, a head; Garcia, a hacking; Morgan and Elle, a dead body and a night in Jamacian prison, while JJ and Reids gifts were being wrapped and delivered, respectively.

Regina decided to call it a night at one a.m. On her way out, she met a frustrated Garcia. "What's wrong?"

"Someone hacked me." Garcia didn't stop and headed for the kitchenette. "I need lots and lots of coffee."

"How?" Regina was shocked. No one could hack Garcia. She was unhackable.

"I don't know. But when I find out how and who, I will send him a virus so bad, they'll need to go into a whole new time era to get rid of it!"

"Do you need a hand?" Her cell started to ring.

"No," was the only reply she recieved.

She read the name: Morgan. "How goes Jamaica?"

_"Reg... no luck Hotch and Gideon are there?"_

"No. Just me and... Garcia's here too but she's kinda busy."

_"Think you can get hold of Hotch and Gideon?"_

"I can try. Why? What's going on?"

_"Elle's been arrested." _

"Tell me you're kidding?"

_"A blood trail leading to her room from a decapitated body."_

"Gideon's here. I'll call in the team."

_"Thanks."_

She hurried over to greet Gideon, who's followed closely by JJ. "Hey... There's a problem."

"I got a head and a card of Nellie Fox." Regina's eyes grew wide, misinturrperting the statement. "Literally."

She sighed. "Well, we found the owner. In Jamaica. Elle's been arrested for murder."

"What?" JJ said, incredulously.

"Call Hotch." JJ nodded.

"Why a Nellie Fox card?" Regina asked.

"Don't ask. All I know is he was my idol as a kid."

"Uh, Gideon." Regina followed him up the steps to his office. "I don't know if this is important. But, um, earlier, I got a package. They were Shakespeare books."

Gideon shrugs. "So?"

"I collected him, when I was a kid... I guess you could say I idolised him."

Gideon stared at her. "Return address?"

She shook her head. "Hand delivered. I figured it might have been my mom. Maybe, somehow she found out about the hospital. But... It's too weird to not be connected."

Gideon nodded. "Have security check the footage."

"Will do."

There was a knock on the door. JJ walked in. "Uh, I just got something." She handed a frame to Regina. She stared at the beautiful butterfly inside, then at the small banner. She read it aloud. "'She has been searched for, yet never found'..." Handing it to Gideon, she glanced at JJ.

JJ looked embarrassed. "That's a pale clouded yellow butterfly. They're indigenous to Europe. Britain mainly."

Regina nodded. "That explains it."

"What the hell is going on here?" Gideon stood quickly. The two women followed him out of the room. By the elevator they met Hotch, Elle, and Morgan.

"JJ, any word on Frank Giles?" Morgan asked.

JJ nodded. "Left Jamaica on the red eye. Flew to Florida, then Virginia."

"Virginia?" Elle asked incredulously. "You mean he's from here?"

JJ shrugged. "I don't know if he's from here, but he flew to Arlington. Long criminal record: manslaughter, robbery, rape."

"And the victim?" Hotch asked.

"Marty Harris, a two-time convicted fetish burglar, registered child sex offender."

She cleared her throat and told them about the framed butterfly.

"An we have his head. CSU Identified it after it came to my cabin," Gideon announced.

Hotch grabbed a notebook. "'Don't waste time on the first victims. They were unrepentant bad men. They only got what they deserved." Everyone looked at him questioningly. "I got a phone call last night before you called from Jamaica. He said to save her."

"Him?" JJ asked.

"I think he means Reid," Gideon offered.

"Reid?" Regina asked.

"He got a note in Vegas: 'She will die unless you save her, Dr. Reid.' We need to regroup."

Everyone followed him into the Round Table Room.

"Who is 'her', and 'she'?" Regina asked she wiped a board.

"The items must be a clue," Gideon said.

"Let's get started." Morgan handed Regina a picture of the head and the Nellie Fox card. She stuck it on the board.

"I got a Nellie Fox baseball card from 1963, and I got a head in a box," Gideon started.

Morgan handed Regina a picture of the books.

"Hard-back William Shakespeare from the same year," she said, ramming a thumb tack into the board.

Next was of the framed-butterfly. JJ handed it to her. "A rare butterfly in a shadow box indigenious to Britian mainly."

"Repeated messages to 'save her'," Hotch said as it went up.

"A decapitated body and a visit to the Jamaican Police Headquarters," Elle offered.

"Reid got a skeleton key and a note," Gideon mentioned.

"And the guy who called me said the youngest one holds the key: Reid," Hotch stated.

Regina turned and faced the table. "Ok... Taunts, dares, yes. Dragging us into a game: Unsubs don't do that."

"Why not?" JJ asked.

"They're sexual fantasies. Taunting is a show of power."

Gideon decided to share something. "Something else about the baseball card. Nellie Fox was one of the stars of the 1959 White Sox. I went to almost every game with my father that year. Fox was my hero. So is it a coincidence that he sends this to me? Or does he know how I feel about him?"

"I idolised Shakespeare for a few years as a kid, but I never stopped favouring his work," Regina told.

JJ looked at them "I collected butterflies when I was a little girl. That's how I knew what butterfly was in the box."

Morgan frowned. "So he knows us."

"I got an anonymous message," Hotch said.

"Police Raid." Elle held up her hand.

"He knew exactly where we were..." She pointed at Gideon. "Cabin..." Then Elle. "Jamaica..." Then Hotch. "Home. And Reid in Vegas"

Garcia walked in. "He got that from the Bureau computers. Your locations are always in there so they can find you if they need you. I checked the log. The hacker was definitely in the personnel folders. There were room numbers to the hotel in Jamaica, the address of Gideon's cabin. There's a lot of information in those databases."

Hotch lookde at her. "Have you figured out how he was able to get into the Bureau's computers?"

She shook her head. "Not yet."

"If you know something...?"

"I was playing an online game yesterday. On my own personal laptop."

Regina closed her eyes. JJ winced.

"I don't understand..." Hotch looked around, confused.

"Wireless...By wirelessly hooking into the net here to get online, the hacker could have gotten into my computer first, and I have far less protection on my own laptop," Garcia explained. "It's possible he could have gotten into the entire Bureau computer system this way."

"Playing a game? How could you be that stupid? Information, files. You have a responsibility." Gideon was furious.

"I found him.I know who he is, the hacker. His name is Giles, Frank Giles. He lives in Arlington, Virginia, four miles from here. I have his address."

The team reaced to Arlington Virginia. Too little, too late. Frank Giles had a sword through him.

"Here thy quest doth truly begins..." Gideon read the blood on the wall.

Regina scrutinised the blade. " There's something on the blade... 'To learn of what should next be done, leave the blade 'til the hour be none.'... Hour be none?"

Reid's voice came from behind. "It's three p.m. Medieval."

Regina nodded and smiled.

Morgan broke the reunion. "It's four forty five."

"Can we block out the light?" Reid asked.

It was done. Shining a flashlight, Reid found where light would be at three p.m.

Morgan tapped on the wall, then, taking out a pocket knife, teared into it.

"There's a locked box. Great." Elle walked away from the group.

"Reid," Gideon ordered.

Reid took out his key and opened the box. Music began. Reid picked up the note. "Never would it be night, but always clear day to any man's sight," he read.

Morgan pulled at a tab to find a disk labelled: Thy Quest; and a lock of hair.

"Let's go." Gideon quickly leads his team out of the room.

The team sat at the table again, watching the DVD, unable to see the unsubs moved to behind the table.

The unsub began. "I assure you ... you'll all understand in the end why it must be that way. You might even thank me. You know now you're on a quest. A young girl's life depends on the successful completion of it. As you can see, she's quite beautiful ... and in distress. Now please listen closely for there is one rule and this rule must be followed. The one rule is ... only the members of your team may participate in the quest. Jason Gideon, Aaron Hotchner, Derek Morgan, Elle Greenaway, Spencer Reid, Jennifer Jareau, Penelope Garcia. A quest must be completed in the proper way or it isn't a quest, is it? That's it. One rule. Simple. Now, you will be receiving an item soon that will hold the final clue you'll need to finish the quest. You will find you will also need a book which has inspired many an adventure like mine. Believe me when I tell you I truly hope to see you all soon. It will mean a successful end to this adventure for all of us." The screen went blank.

JJ entered the room. "The girl is Rebecca Bryant." She stuck the picture of the young girl up on the board. "CSU finished analysing the footage. She's been missing for two years."

Abrubtly, Gideon left the room. Hotch slowly got up and followed him.

The rest of the team was silent for a moment.

Morgan sighed. "He has pictures of us?"

"Are we really gonna play his game?" Elle asked.

"Have we a choice?" JJ countered. " A girl's life depends on it."

Regina stood up and walked to the board. "So what do we know?"

"He has a limp," Morgan began.

"He's technology literate," Reid said.

"He can overpower a grown younger man, though,"JJ said.

"He's a scumbag," Elle scowled.

Regina was writing furiously. When she was finished, she capped the marker and threw it to Reid. "I need coffee." She hurried out of the room and leapt the steps into the kitchenette,

Spooning coffee into the cup, Regina heard Hotch call her. "Coming." She turned and was in Gideon's office in seconds, almost not noticing Haley before turning to Hotch and Gideon. "Garcia's still working on the hacker..."

"Good," Gideon said, bitterly.

"What's going on?" She pretended not to hear his remark.

"A man delivered this to my house." Hotch held up a sheet of paper with numbers on it. Regina took it and scrutinised it.

"Get Reid to take a look at it," Gideon ordered.

"It's a book code. Each set of numbers represents a page, a line and a word," Regina stated.

"Do we know what book? One of Shakespeares?" Hotch asked.

Regina shook her head. "Seems too easy."

Gideon agreed. "Check with security, see if they have an image on whoever delivered the books." Regina nodded and turned to leave. "Reg?" She turned back. "Stay on that with Reid." Regina turned to leave again. "Regina?"

"Yes?"

"We're gonna get a sketch artist in here."

"I'll send a copy of the impression face recognition," she said as she went to turn the corner again.

"Wait."

"What!?" she asked, exasperated.

"Tell JJ to have a press conference ready... We'll air the picture."

Regina stared at him. "But he said..."

"I know what he said. But he's the unsub, we're the profilers. We call the shots."

"But a girls life..."

"Just do it."

She looked at Hotch. He nodded. "Anything else?"

Gideon shook his head.

Regina walked back into the Round Table Room. She turned to JJ. "Get reporters here ASAP. Say we need help on a new case."

"Press Conference?" Morgan asked. Regina nodded. She held up the sheet of paper, stuck it to the board and began copying it onto a clean whiteboard. "What's that?"

"A book code," Reid answered.

"The unsub had it delivered to Haley."

An hour later, the press conference was starting, Reid was calling out the numbers for Regina, who was half way through the code, Morgan was staring at the deliveries and Elle was sleeping on the couch. Regina and Reid was finishing up the code when Hotch walked in and shook Elle.

"Hey. I'm sending you home."

"No," she protested.

"It's an order. Let's go."

"Ok."

Regina sat down. "So what now...?"


	10. The Fisher King Pt 2

Regina broke the silence that lasted all night. "Uhhhhh," she said. She let her head fall to the table. Hotch, Morgan and Reid all looked over at her. She threw up her hand and waved. Hotch, head resting on his hands behind him, smiled. Morgan, leaning back in the chair chuckled. Reid, standing at the white board, continued to stare at it.

"Reid," Hotch asked. "How many books are published in year?"

"In the whole world?" Hotch nodded. "Thousands."

"Great. And all we gotta do is find one," Morgan observed.

Regina stood and walked over to the evidence board. "You know, I can see this unsub getting our phone numbers and addresses from the Bureau personnel files, but come on, man, it really says in there that Gideon digs Nellie Fox?"

"Or that JJ collect butterflies, and you collect Shakespeare?" Hotch finished.

Morgan shook his head in disbelief. "I didn't even know these things about us."

Regina agreed. "We all have our secrets."

There was a pause as Hotch, Morgan and Regina contemplated. Reid was looking at a note. "Ever would it be night, but always clear day to any man's sight."

"Not with the poem from the music box, man, please," Morgan begged.

"There's something familiar about it... I think I've heard it somewhere before."

Regina frowned. "So... You have Eidetic memory."

"That's only primarily related to thing's I've read... I think I've heard this."

"Which leaves us...?" Hotch prompted.

Regina glared. "Nowhere."

"Not necessarily." The four agents turned and saw Gideon standing at the doorway. "What's the first thing we'd look at if we didn't have all these clues?"

"Victimology," Hotch answered, nodding.

Regina grabbed the remote and brought up a picture of Rebecca Bryant onto the screen.

Gideon turned to Morgan. "Missing out of South Boston, Virginia. You can get there in a few hours if you hurry. Take JJ. Find out everything there is to know about this girl."

Morgan and Hotch walked out of the room.

"What do you want us to do?" Regina asked.

"Keep working on the code. And study the UnSub."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMC**

Regina walked into the Round Table Room with two coffees. Reid was staring at the board. He had written: _Possible Book Titles. _

"Reid?" Regina raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "How the hell are we supposed to do this?"

He turned to face her. "Thousands of books published every year. This is impossible." He stopped. "Year ... every year." He moved to the Nellie Fox card and stared at it intently. "1963." He turned to Regina. "What year is Nellie Fox important to Gideon?"

Regina thought. "19...59?" She realised what he was getting at. "So why the 1963 card?" She followed Reid out of the room. "Finally."

She follows him onto the platform. "Oh, Reid... I'll catch up. I need to grab something."

She heads back to the Round Table Room. She finds Hotch hanging up his phone. "Hey," she moves to her jacket and pulls out her meds. She uncaps and takes out two.

"How are you feeling?"

She smiles. "Fine." After taking a sip she looks at him. "You don't need to keep asking me that."

He nodded.

Reid walked in. "We need to find a connection between all these things," he said. "Think Garcia's up and running?"

"One way to find out."

When they arrived at her office, Garcia was working furiously. "This guy is good. Giles was just a smokescreen and I should have seen that!"

Regina glanced over her shoulder at the screen. "Sir Kneighf? Kneighf? That looks familiar."

Reid looked at it. "It's an unusual spelling."

Garcia glared at them. "Do you need something?"

Regina stepped back. "A database. Listing all books published in a given year."

"Individual publishers have lists... but there's not like a master one... Besides, the further back you go, the less likely there are records."

"1963?" she asked.

"Extremely less likely."

Regina sighed and looked to Reid.

"Can you search this?" Reid asked. "Never would it be night, but always clear day to any man's sight."

" 'The Parliament of Fowls' by Geoffrey Chaucer."

"FOWELS! My mom used to read it to me." Reid moves away from the two women. He began thinking and speaking rapisly. "Chaucer. Chaucer, "Parliament of Fowles." Fowles, "Parliament of Fowles," Chaucer. Has to be at least 283 pages long, but the poem has to be longer."

"Published in 1963," Regina added.

"A butterfly indigenous to Great Britain. Why?"

"Sharkespeare was born in Britain."

"So something born, something from Great Britain... Medieval. Medieval, Chaucer. Chaucer was Middle English. Middle English spelling of the

word 'Fowles ...'"

Regina frowned. "Wasn't there a writer...?"

"JOHN FOWLES! There was a contemporary British author -- John Fowles. Will you type it into a search engine?" he asked Garcia, getting excited.

" 'The Magus', 'The French Lieutenant's Woman'...

"Specifically 1963 in Great Britain?" Regina asked, trying not to let her excitment show as much as Reid, who was practically bouncing across the room.

" 'The Collector'."

Reid and Regina looked at each other. "The Collector," they said together.

Garcia pulled up a cover. "Oh, spooky."

The cover has a picture of a skeleton key, a lock of yellow hair and a pale coloured moth. They stare at it in amazement.

Regina grabs a piece of paper and a pen and followed Reid and Garcia out of the room. They ran into Gideon and Hotch in the hall. Reid told them what they found out.

"And... Sir Kneighf is an anagram for-"

An agent ran up before she could tell them. "There's a call... he says he's the unsub."

Hotch looked at him. "Did he leave a name?"

"The Fisher King?" Regina asked.

The Agent looked at her surprised. "Exactly." He smiled.

"In mythology, the Fisher King is the Grail King," Reid explained as they walked to the bullpen.

"We have a tap and trace," Hotch said.

Gideon pressed speaker phone. "Gideon."

_"What I had to do was not my fault."_

"Excuse me?"

_"It was distasteful and barbaric."_

"Who is this?"

_"No one else had to be hurt."_

"Call yourself "The Fisher King"?"

_"I told you there were rules."_

"I'm actually more interested in exactly how you got all those burns."

_"Remember this next time you decide to step outside my instructions. Agent Greenaway did not have to die like that."_

The line went dead. The team looked at one another, shocked.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Regina rubbed her eyes. Hotch and Gideon had driven to the hospital, and, whilst Garcia was helping Reid with the book code, Regina tried calling JJ and Morgan.

"Come on. Pick up... Pick up."

After an hour, Regina got through. "JJ, put me on speaker."

_"Hey, princess...__Don't tell me. Reid already figured it out, and we drove all the way out here for nothing, right?"_

"Derek ..."

_"What?"_ Regina paused. _"What?"_

"The -- the unsub ... Elle was shot in her apartment this morning.

Regina heard tyres screech. _"What?"_

_"What are you doing?"_ JJ asked

"What's going on?"

_"I'm going back."_

"No, no, no. Hotch said not to."

_"I don't give a damn what Hotch said."_

_"But, Derek, he's right. There's nothing we can do at the hospital, okay? But maybe we can find the unsub through -- through her, through the victim's profile, through Rebecca," JJ tried._

"How bad?"

"She's in surgery. That's all they know. As soon as I know, you will too."

She hung up and walked to the Round Table Room. She looked at the board. It read: _The path to the end/ began at his start./ To find her first calm/ her long broken heart./ She sits in a window/ with secrets from her knight/ Is it adventure that keeps/ him out of her sight?"_

"Another puzzle?" she asked.

"A riddle," Reid said. His eyes suddenly grew wide.

"What?" He reaches for the phone. "Reid, what?"

"I know how the unsub knows all this stuff about us... I need to be connected to the field office closest to Las Vegas, Nevada, immediately." There is a slight pause. "Hi. This is Dr. Spencer Reid at the Behavioral Analysis Unit at Quantico. Look, I need my mother picked up and brought to Virginia in protective custody as soon as possible. We're searching for an unsub who shot one of our agents today, and I think he might know my mother, and I believe she may be in danger." Reid looks at the two women for a second. He lowers his voice. "Yes. She's at the Bennington Sanitarium in Las Vegas. Her name's Diana Reid. She's a patient there." Regina and Garcia look at each other, before Regina leaves the room.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Regina wiped the water that she had splashed on her face off with a towel. She stared at herself in the mirror. Grabbing a stran of hair, she began toying with it. Toying and staring; toying and staring... _Toying and staring... _She pulled up her sleeve and stared at the scars. She moved back from the mirror to view as much of her body as possible. Holding one arm across her stomach, and the other facing out, she gasped. "Damage," she mouthed.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Before going to her office, Garcia set in search for Regina. She found her in the bathroom, staring blankly at the mirror.

"Reg?" Regina looked to her and smiled, pulling down her sleeve. Garcia noticed some scarring. "You ok?"

Regina nodded. "How's Reid?"

"He's ok... A little... Are you?" Regina frowned. "Ok?"

She nodded. "I'm just tired... I've been working my butt off for the last three days?" She smiled and walked out of the room.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Reid was sitting at his desk when Regina walked in. "Coffee?" she asked, walking over to the kitchenette. He followed her. She looked back at him. "She's okay -- your mom. Agents picked her up. She's flying here right now."

"I forgot she used to always read me this poem. It's funny, huh?"

Regina raised an eyebrow as she put on the coffee. "Funny?

"Should have realized sooner than that. Nobody knows things like the fact that JJ collects butterflies except for me. People tell me their secrets all the time. Think it's 'cause they know I don't have anyone to betray them to ... except my mother. I ... I tell her pretty much everything."

Regina shook her head. "I don't think anyone would mind."

"Do you know that I write her a letter every day?"

She smiled. "That's... really nice."

Reid shrugged. "It depends on why I write her."

She handed him his coffee. "What do you mean?"

"I write her letters so I won't feel so guilty about not visiting her." Regina never realised how small the youngest agent could look. "Did you know that schizophrenia is genetically passed?"

She tiltled her head and took his hand in hers. She smiled, though she could feel tears. "I have bipolar." She moved her arm out of sight from others and should him the scars. "If you need me... If I need you... Kay?"

Reid smiled, grateful. "Thanks."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Reid was pouring himself his third coffee since Regina moved up to the Round Table Room when his mother was escorted in by two agents.

"That's why you're so skinny... too much coffee," she stated. "You know, I'm terrified of flying."

"I'm trying to protect you. I need to show you something. Follow me." He led her up the steps to the Round Table Room. Regina was tidying the scattered photographs and papers on the desk. "Regina. This is my mother, Diana Reid. Mom, this is my friend I work with, Regina."

"It's so great to meet you. Spencer speaks so highly of you." Diana just nodded.

She gasped. "The table's round."

"Just like I wrote you." She reaches out for the skeleton key. "No, mom, that's evidence. You can''t touch the evidence."

"Um, we need to show you something." Spencer nodded and Regina turned on the DVD.

"I know that voice," Diana said. "It's Randall Garner."

Garcia walked in. "I got to the end of the IP string... Sir Knieghf is Rebecca Bryant's biological father... Randall Garner."

"I'll call Hotch." She exits the room.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Hotch looked at the name on the screen. "Got anything?"

_"Randall Garner, the victim's biological father. What do we do?"_

"Wait, I'll be right there."

_"Kay."_ She paused. _"Hotch? Are you ok?"_

"Not now... I'll be right there."

On the other end of the line, Regina frowned.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

The team regrouped.

"He thinks we're all modern day knights of the round table," Reid said.

"Excuse me," Diana interrupted.

"No, mom..."

"Someone delivered this to me." She took out a photograph. "There's an address on the back."

Regina took the photo. "Shiloh, Virginia... that's ten miles from here."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Randall Garner died. They saved Rebecca Bryant.

Elle woke up, out of the woods. Gideon sat with her.

Garcia put her computers back together with Morgan helping her.

JJ cleaned away the evidence.

Reid went with his mother to Vegas.

Hotch spent the night cleaning the blood from Elle's apartment, not content with going home.

Regina stood in her bathroom, in front of the mirror, her hair damp. Beside her was a magazine, a scissors and hair dye.

**A/N Finally Season 2**


	11. The Last Word

Since Elle had left, the work load had been piling up. The three younger profilers had been taking a minimum of thirty files, whilst the olders two had taken much more. Regina had found a good reason to come in early, leave late and work oni the weekends. Not many cases had turned up since they got back from North Mammon last week, so the five were happily planning which files to tackle first.

She stood at the coffee machine. "Excuse me?" She turned. A black-haired woman was standing at the entrance with a box.

Regina smiled. "Hi. Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for SSA Aaron Hotchner."

"Are you working here?"

"Um, I think so... Emily Prentiss."

Regina shook her hand. "Regina Williams."

"Is Agent Hotchner here?"

Regina nodded. "First door up those stairs."

When Regina arrived at her desk, Morgan and Reid arrived for work. "Hey, hey, hey," she greeted.

"Hey..." Morgan stopped and stared at his colleague. "What the hell...?"

Regina was unfazed. "What?"

"You're hair."

"Morgan, I dyed it four months ago..."

"Not that dark... and it's short."

When they had caught Randall Garner, Regina had attempted dying and cutting her hair herself. But she couldn't. She decided to lightly dye it and have a hairdresser do the rest. At least if she had an appointment, she wouldn't bow out.

"Eh. I like it." She shrugged.

"I didn't say I didn't."

"I like it," Reid piped in.

JJ walked into the room. "We have a case."

Morgan pointed. "Did you see this?"

JJ shrugged. "It's nice." She turned to Regina. "Will you get Hotch and Gideon?"

Regina nodded. She knocked lightly on the door of Hotch's office and stuck her head in the door. "We have a case."

Hotch stared at her. He nodded slowly. "Be right there."

On her way to the Round Table Room, she knocked on Gideon's door, but kept on walking.

The team was regrouped. "St. Louis has two serial killers," JJ began. "The Mill Creek Killer abducts his victims from public places, dumps them in the

woods. They consulted us months ago after the third murder. It may be up to six. Ellen Carroll's went missing yeaterday. The second killer, the Hollow Man, has killed eight prostitutes. Marci Mitchell was killed last night with a .44 magnum."

"Why the Hollow Man?" Morgan asked.

"Maybe he feels empty or something," Regina tried. This got a smile out of Morgan.

"He uses hollow point bullets. No one even knew this guy existed until he

sent this letter," JJ explained.

"He's killing women who won't be noticed as missing... Women who don't make the front page," Hotch stated. "The Mill Creek Killer's victims' _do _make the headlines."

"When Mill Creek kills, the Hollow Man shoots another prostitute," Reid said.

"So one doesn't want to be outdone by the other," Morgan said.

"Sounds like me and my younger brother," Regina muttered.

Morgan, Reid and JJ frowned. "Younger?" Morgan asked. "How many have you got?"

"Two. One above, my sister, me, another brother, another sister."

"You have sisters?" Reid asked.

"Ya'll knew that." Regina looked aroud the table. The three shook their heads, whilst Hotch and Gideon flciked through the file. "I told you..."

"No... you didn't," Morgan insisted. "You told us you had a brother."

"Wait... You know about my siblings," JJ said, sounding hurt.

"You've met my sisters," Morgan said.

"I don't have any," stated Reid.

"And you've met my brother," observed Hotch. "Can we continue.

"They've been killing independently of each other for a year now," Gideon said. "With each kill they're learning something ... from the other."

Filing out of the room, Morgan called Regina. "What colour would you call it?"

"What?"

"Your hair?"

Regina sighed. "Plum."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

An hour later they were on the plane. "Did you know there are roughly thirty serial killers at large in the US at any given time? It's an incredibly rare occurrence to have them operating in the same city."

Regina raised her eyebrows. "Wow."

"Me and Reid will deal with the Hollow Man," Hotch said.

Gideon nodded. "Morgan you're with me."

"What about me?" Regina asked.

"We need someone familiar with both killers. When we get there go to the PD and revise both."

"Ok."

"Reid, take a look at the letter for handwriting analysis and

psycho linguistics," Hotch ordered.

"I'll go ahead and talk with Ellen Carroll's husband," Morgan said.

"I'm meeting Jim Meyers, the reporter from the Missouri Herald," JJ announced.

"Tell him not to write about the Hollow Man," Gideon told her. "If we want to draw the shooter out, best way to do that is to act like he doesn't exist."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Regina followed JJ through the field office. An agent walks up to them. "Agent Jareau? Agent Sheridan."

"Hi. This is SSA Regina Williams." Regina smiles.

"The rest of our team is currently speaking to the families of the last too victims," she said.

"Good... Well, why don't you set up in here?." They followed him into a room.

Regina and JJ notice the boxes for the Mill Creek Killer. "Wow... Lots of Evidence for the Mill Creek Killer... Where's the evidence from the Hollow Man killings?" Regina asked. Sheridan points to a single file. Regina picks it up, amazed. "This is it?" He nodded. "There's been at least eight women."

" You know these cases don't generate much evidence. All we have at the scene are a couple of bullets and no one's talking."

JJ looks between the two. "Well, hopefully, we can change that."

Another agent walked in. "Agent Jareau, there's a reporter here to see you."

"Excuse me."

Regina stared at the single file. Agent Sheridan walked over to her. "We've searched the crime scenes for everything... That's all we found."

Regina nodded. "I understand. Hopefully we won't need this."

His phone rang. She sat down and began to work. "We've found Ellen Carroll's body."

Regina nodded. "Agent Jareau will introduce you to Agents Gideon and Morgan. Uh... Coffee Machine?" He pointed to a room down the hall. Regina chuckled."Thanks."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

An hour later, Regina's phone rang. "Williams," she answered without missing a beat.

_"The Hollow Man took another victim,"_ Reid announced.

"So did the Mill Creek Killer..." Regina sighed. "One single case file."

_"What?"_ Hotch asked.

"That's all they have on the Hollow Man. Five boxes of Case files on the Mill Creek Killer... _One _case file on the Hollow Man. Please, just... Get some thing more."

_"We will."_

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Hotch walked into the room where Regina was working. He stopped when he found Regina hunched over photographs with a magnifying glass. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked, slowly walking further into the room.

Regina looked up and smiled. "I'm hoping to find something someone missed... This can't be it..." She straightened up and stretched, her top rising a little, revealing the smallest bit of skin.

Hotch averted his eyes. "Where's JJ?" he asked, putting his hands into his pocket and fingering his wedding ring.

Regina sat back down. "Talking to Jim Meyers, the reporter. Reid?" she asked.

"Break room... getting coffee."

Regina nodded. "Oh, where's the new girl? Prentiss?"

Hotch stared at her. "What do you know about her?"

"She said that she was working with us. Why? Who is she?"

"Ambassador Prentiss' daughter."

Regina nodded and smirked. "Ah... So she has connections?"

"Yes." Hotch sat next to her. "What?"

"I just remember when I joined... Morgan had the exact same idea as you do now. It... must just be a guy thing."

Hotch nodded. "Uh-huh... must be." Hotch sub consciously let his eyes linger. He looked away. "Ready for the profile?"

Regina nodded, having not noticed Hotch's stare.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

"The Hollow Man's tired of being ignored," Reid began. "He might be in a job of solitude or one that he feels strips him of his identity. His job might require him to wear a uniform, something that shows absolutely no individuality. Or he may be overqualified for his menial job and feels that he doesn't get the respect that he necessarily deserves."

Hotch continued. "Today, he's killed two women. He's growing confident, unpredictable... Dangerous."

"Because he has no physical contact with his victims, it's going to make him that much harder to catch," Regina stated. "We have more information on the Mill Creek Killer because he spends a lot of time with his victims before and after his kills."

Gideon began. "His victims willingly follow him. He may appear harmless... maybe handsome."

"He may also have social skills to trick his victims," Morgan continued.

Sheridan spoke. "Why would he risk driving his victims from the abduction site to the woods?"

"Ritual. It's become the most important thing to him. Dominates his thoughts. Bullets provide the privacy he needs," Gideon explained.

Regina finished the profile. "The Hollow Man is motivated by external pressures. This is a guy who simply wants attention. The Mill Creek Killer, on the other hand, he's driven by internal forces... Thank you for your time."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

"There's another victim," JJ announced as she walked into the room. "Meredith Dale, twenty-five. She was supposed to meet her friend for a bike ride but disappeared."

Regina looked up. "When?"

"An hour ago."

"I'll set up road blcoks in and out of the forest," Agent Sheridan said.

"We have to assume he's hiding her body right now," Morgan said.

"Best chance of catching him is to find Meredith Dale's body and wait," Gideon said.

"Maybe the dumsites aren't random."

"What do you mean?" Regina asked.

"He needed some plan going into these woods... They're huge!" Morgan stood and walked to a map. "The first body was found deep into the woods. That's a three-hour car ride from the city. He's more careful in disposing of body was discovered by a forest ranger five days after the abduction. And all the other victims -- look at this -- they follow the same pattern."

"What are you saying? You think he works up there?" Sheridan asked.

"Maybe... Needs to know all the woods to remember where he left her body...when and where to dump em'."

"I'll call Garcia," Regina offered. She took her cell, and moved out of the room.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

"Hey, it's me. I need to know how the ranger schedules break down?

_"Okay. The national forest is divided into six ranger districts, which are patrolled every three to five days. Now, the Potosi-Fredricktown area must be where he's headed to next because the rangers were just there yesterday, which means they're not scheduled to revisit it for at least another three days. And look at that, it's the district closest to the city."_

"Well, that makes sense. He's in a hurry. He wants to get in and out of there without a lot of trouble. Which area has the easiest access to the main road?

_"That would be ... Saltgrass Cove."_

Regina nodded. "Saltgrass Cove. Would he have time to revisit her?"

_"What? Actually, I don't want to know that... Yes he would. Bye-bye."_

"Wait... You know I have two brother and two sisters, right?" Regina asked.

_"What? No... since when?"_

"I...I told you..."

_"No, you didn't... I gotta go."_ She hung up.

Regina frowned. She walked back into the room. "I think he took her to Saltgrass Cove."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMC**

"So our plan to catch the Mill Creek Killer was ruined by the Hollow Man?" Regina asked as Gideon and Morgan walked back into the room.

"Yep. Sent a messege to that reporter," Morgan explained.

"Now the Hollow Man's on a high. He hasn't pulled the trigger since he took two victims yesterday. Is he satisfied or is he just getting started?" Hotch pondered.

JJ walked in, the paper in her hand. "We'll find out." She handed it to Hotch.

Hotch read it. "'Hollow Man helps FBI find the Mill Creek Killer's victim.' Nice. He's alerted the media and injected himself into the investigation."

"He's getting the attention he's been craving."

"He must know the Mill Creek Killer needs to revisit the body," Regina said. "But how?"

"Well, one things for sure. If he can't defile the woman again, the need'll become so strong, it

could push him into a frenzy," Gideon stated. "And if that happens, this guy is just a time bomb waiting to explode."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Regina closed her cell phone and spoke to Hotch and Reid. "That was Morgan.The witness got a good look at the Mill Creek Killer." She shook her head. "How did he know where to find the body... Did he figure it out like us?"

Reid was intently reading a newspaper. " They always say serial killers make the best profilers."

"Yeah, but this guy's dead on."

Hotch is looking through newspapers too. "Yeah. The headline doesn't mention the shooter at all. We talked to Jim Meyers, asked him not to respond to the letter, he doesn't, and then the guy goes out and shoots two more women..." Hotch sighed. "What gives him this confidence? What's the significance of the paper at the scene? We know he wants to be newsworthy."

Regina nodded. "He could've just tossed it aside. Instead, he displayed it. There's

something he wants us to look at. There's definitely something in the paper."

"They're talking in the classifieds," Reid announced. Regina moved in between him and Hotch to see the papers Reid was holding. "The references are what made me suspicious... 'Sunny, are you an artist too? I'd love to see your work sometime. Holden.' They're from 'Catcher in the Rye'. I found the initial contact. It ran in the paper unchanged for months. 'We have different tastes, but I can appreciate your art. Sunny.' "

"So who's who?" Regina asked.

"Sunny's the Hollow Man. He initiated contact."

"A mentor. Offered admiration and respect. In return, he gains encouragement and confidence," Hotch explained.

Regina nodded. She was already speed dialling Morgan and putting him on speaker. Reid explained.

"But when the Hollow Man remained unnoticed by the press, he resented his mentor and turned it into a rivalry," Hotch finished.

_"Hollow Man became jealous. They were both killers, but they weren't seen in the same playing field. What else did you find?" _Morgan asked.

Reid read. " 'An overwhelming area and you never get lost?" Then the answer to this

question. "I do my research. It's not so random when you know the area. I like cottonwood in SGC'."

_"He's talking about Saltgrass Cove. He told him how to find Meredith Dale."_

"Now we understand their relationship, let's use it against them," Hotch ordered.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Morgan and Gideon walked into the room. "Garcia says they covered their tracks. How's it going in here?"

Hotch stood. "Reid's imitating the Hollow Man's language patterns to send a message

to the Mill Creek Killer. He's offering condolences on losing Meredith Dale."

"Reid, you've got less then an hour to meet the deadline," Regina said as she paced the room.

"We'll get a decoy Meredith Dale," Gideon said, already leaving the room.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Regina is pacing the break room, while Hotch makes four coffees.

"Do you wanna sit down?" he asked.

"No."

"There's a reason Reid kicked us out."

"I know... I just... I haven't been sleeping and am kinda high on coffee." She smiled. "You never said?"

Hotch stopped, wondering if he were that transparent. "About what?"

"My hair."

"It's darker and shorter... there's not much to say."

"I need to talk... I mean, if this doesn't work, what else do we have?"

Hotch turned to face her. He smiled. "It's nice."

JJ walked in. "They got him."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Regina leans against a table, with Morgan and Hotch beside her, as the Mill Creek Killer passes.

JJ walks up. "I've alerted all news outlets that we'll be holding a press conference in

ten minutes."

"Have you the script?" Gideon asked.

JJ nodded.

"Be sure to say exactly those words," Hotch ordered.

JJ nodded.

"The wordings important, JJ," Morgan advised.

"Relax. It's not my first party, boys."

"Yeah... you'd swear she was an incapable newbie... But then again, you probably did." Regina looked directly at Hotch and Morgan.

Gideon walkde toward the room where the Mill Creek Killer was taken.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

JJ held the conference announcing thatthe Hollow Man was no more then a thug. The team sat around the field office, waiting.

"Why'd you do it?" Hotch asked quietly.

Regina looked at him. "Do what?" He nodded to her hair. "Wanted a change. People... people change." He nodded. "They become new."

Suddenly the doors bang open. The Hollow Man enters with a gun held to a security guard. The team pull out their guns.

"Where is he? I want to see him right now," he demands. No one reponds."You tell him the Hollow Man's here." He looks around the room and recognizes her. "He told you to say those things about me, didn't he? To use those words?" His eyes continue searching. He sees the Mill Creek Killer and stops. Morgan takes the oppurtunity to take the gun and handcuff him. "I'm no less elegant than he is. I'm no copycat. I left you the newspaper! I gave you the Mill Creek Killer! What else do I have to do?"

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

On the plane home, JJ holds up a sheet of paper. All the victims of both the Mill Creek Killer and The Hollow Man are on it. The headline reads: _VICTIMS REMEMBERED. _"It's the story for tomorrow." She hands it to Morgan.

He reads it. "They were our daughters, sisters, mothers, and friends."

He hands it to Regina, who smiles and nods. "They have every right to be remembered ... and memorialized." She hands it to Reid.

"They didn't mention the shooter," he quickly notices. He hands it to Gideon.

"Thank God," he says, staring at it for a while before passing it to Hotch.

"He was a nobody who wanted to be somebody by killing people and they didn't even give him that. Good."

The feeling on the plane that night was one of exhaustion and accomplishment.


	12. Lessons Learned

Regina woke up to darkness. She lay there a moment before pulling the covers off her head. It was still dark outside. She turned to her clock. It was four in the morning but, knowing going back to sleep wasn't a choice, she got up and threw on her running gear. She ran for and forty-five minutes before turning back. Arriving at her house at five thrity, she ran into Dan, who clearly had the same thoughts as she did.

"Hi," she greeted, holding her stomach.

"Hey... you going for a run?"

"Coming back."

"Go far?"

She checked her watch. "Been out since about four."

"Wow..."

"I better go... get ready for work..." As if on cue, her cell rang. She smiled. "Williams..." She paused. "Oh, god... No, I'll be right in. Thanks."

"Problem?"

Regina looked at him and shook her head. "Nothing... Talk later."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Each member of the team headed straight for the Round Table Room as soon as they arrived.

Hotch and Gideon arrived last. "Everyone meet Agent Prentiss?"

"The other day," Regina said.

"I've been filling her in on protocol," JJ said. Morgan and Reid introduced themselves. JJ began. "The DEA raided what they thought was a hardened meth lab right here in northern Virginia, but they found this instead." She pressed a button on the remote and brought up pictures of canisters and tanks.

Regina leans in closer. "Could be a dispersal device for a chemical weapon. Sophisticated."

"Homeland Security's thinking Al Qaeda."

"They've developed devices that span the spectrum of sophistication, some as simple as soda bottles and paint cans," Reid shared.

"They're called al ikhteraa. Literally "the invention.""

Everyone looks from her to Reid. "They are," he confirms.

"Do we know what the biological or chemical agent is yet?" Morgan asked.

"Not yet," Regina answered.

"The members bailed out through a Tunnel. DEA recovered a Nextel. 2-way and managed to intercept a message." JJ hands copies to everyone. "It's not the transcript."

"No it's in Arabic," Emily said. She translates it. "Our friends surprised us and eloped. We can no longer wait for the wedding as planned. We can deliver our gift at the next crescent." She looked up. Everyone was staring at her. "Uh, I lived in several Middle Eastern countries growing up."

Gideon turned to Garcia. "Next crescent?"

"Two days."

"Payment for the Nextel is linked to this man." JJ pulls up a photo. "Jind Allah."

"Lterally 'Soldier of God,' " Emily said.

"Two months ago, Jind Allah was captured leaving the US using a forged Pakistani passport via Richmond International Airport. He's been held as a ghost detainee in Guantanamo Bay ever since."

Regina leaned back. "So our only lead technically doesn't exist."

"Do we know his real name?" Emily asked.

"CIA interrogators got nothing," JJ answered.

"They need us to break him," Gideon explained.

"We have 48 hours to do what the CIA hasn't been able to manage in two months," Morgan observed.

"We could be looking at the first attack on our soil since 9/11... Reid, you'll come with me to Guantanamo Bay."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Hotch began pacing around his office, his breathing heavy, hands shaking. He closed his eyes and left the room.

When he got the call that morning, his thoughts were with two people: one was his son... Neither were his wife. He went to Gideon's office.

"I think Prentiss should go with you. She's the only one that knows Arabic. She could be of help."

"There's plenty for her to do here. I don't know enough of her abilities.

"Neither do I, but we have to learn somewhere."

"Does she have a go bag?"

Hotch looks at the bag on her desk. "My guess is there isn't much this woman's unprepared for."

"Fine..."

Hotch nodded to Prentiss, then moved to catch up to Gideon. "And Regina too..."

Gideon looked at him accusingly. "Why?"

"The more, the better..."

Gideon shook his head. "Hotch..."

"Jason. Please?"

"Alright. But you're explaining it to her. Fast."

Hotch nodded. "Regina," he called. She followed him up to his office. "I want you in Guantanamo Bay with Gideon, Reid and Prentiss."

Regina stopped. "Why?"

"I just do."

"But... Morgan's going to be with the bomb squad. You need someone else."

Hotch looked at her. "Please."

She crossed her arms. "No..."

"Regina, I'm begging you...please?"

Regina looked at him. "Why? Why do you want me in Guantanamo Bay, rather then here?"

"I have my reasons..."

"And I want to know. Don't you trust me in the field with terrorists and bombs?"

"Of course I do."

"Then what."

"I don't--" He stopped himself before he could say more. "The car's leaving soon."

"I don't care... You don't what?" She looked closely at his face. "Hotch?" she said quetly.

"Regina, it's a direct order."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Reid looked around. "What are we waiting for?"

Regina arrived. "Me."

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I don't know."

She took a seat in the back, as the plane took off.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Regina sighed. They had successfully fooled a terrorist and saved countless lives in Virginia.

Reid was sleeping like a baby across the aisle, while Gideon and Emily played chess.

She couldn't focus. She kept thinking back to before she left, in Hotch's office. There was something in his face, but she didn't know what. She tried to figure it out. _Stress? _No, Hotch gets angry when he's stressed. And he wasn't angry either. Fear? It made sense. He didn't want Jack or Haley hurt. But there was something else. _Hurt. He was fine at debrief..._ Regina thought back.

_"Reid, you'll come with me to Guantanamo Bay." _Gideon had said this in the debrief. Hotch's face had fallen.

Regina thought back to when he and Gideon had been arguing on the landing. Hotch had called her up immediately after.

If she was being honest, he'd been acting weird with her for months. She went further back through her memories.

When Hotch came to her place to check on her. It was the first time he had held her close to him since they broke up. Why had he come and not Garcia? She wasn't going to Indianapolis.

Why had he stayed with her for almost a week, rather then gone home to his wife and son at the nights?

She remembered that, while she was unconscious, only twice did he let go of her hand: when the doctors pulled out the glass, and when the nurse asked him to.

Why had he bought her flowers? Why did he look so guilty when JJ and Garcia were in the room with her?

Why, after staying with her for five days, did he call her only once after she came out of hospital?

Why, when she came back to work, was he so... cold to her?

Her mind swam to the week before in St. Louis.

_She was stretching and Hotch looked away... After they had joked about the similiarities between her's and Emily's arrival, had he been staring at her? He had seemed uncomfortable with her in the coffee room._

She came back to the present day and looked around. Gideon was watching her. She shook her head.

He turned his guilty look out the window.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

When they arrived back, everyone had gone home, including Hotch.

**Dum dum dum. Will Hotch get found out by everyone? What will happen between him and Regina? Or him and Haley? GASP!**


	13. Sex, Birth and Death

Regina was sitting at her desk by seven on Monday morning. She was drumming her fingers off the desk, and barely spoke to Emily or Morgan as the came in respectively. She turned quickly whenever the door opened and had three cups of coffee every half hour.

At eight o' clock on the dot, Reid came in. Regina barely noticed. She just felt tapping on her shoulder. She turned to see JJ. "We have a case."

Regina nodded and followed her up to the Round Table Room. JJ started. Regina interrupted. Aren't we gonna wait for Hotch?"

"He's meeting Gideon and Reid at the morgue." She stared at Regina for a moment. "As I was saying, Reid met this kid at the subway. He began asking about why killers kill prostitutes... he went into specifics: stabbing; cutting off hair. Local PD had victims matching that description."

Morgan turned. "Reg... you and me talk to the ladies?" Regina just nodded.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

"Business is pretty heavy here in the mornings?" Regina asks a young girl names Little Holly as Morgan walks up with her friend.

"How do I know you're not just looking to crack down on us?"

"Because I'm telling you. We're here trying to protect you."

"A lot of Johns from the hill stop by on their way to work," Holly's friend says. "We always see the same politicians yelling about cleaning up the hill, the ones dropping fifty bucks with us before they make the speech.

"It's true, and the more important they think they are, the quicker they accidentally finish up with us. It's weird like that."

Regina shook her head. "No, that's pretty much universal.

Morgan showed them a copy of Reid's sketch of Nathan Harris. "You recognize him at all?"

"I don't know his name or nothin'. He hangs around, tries to pretend like he's not watching us. He's just a horny kid, you know."

"You didn't see him talking to any of the other girls out here?"

"I just figured he's the kind gets his little bit of danger and goes home and takes business into his own hands."

Holly looks at Regina. "Is he the one who did this?"

"We don't know, but someone did, so you need to be careful."

Holly's friend spoke. "We stick to the daylight and only work the high-end blocks."

Regina looked at Holly. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-one." Regina looks at Morgan, then raises her eyebrows to Holly. "Nineteen."

"Just watch out for each other, okay?"

They nod and the two profilers head back to the car.

"You alright?" Morgan asked.

Regina glanced at him. "Shouldn't I be?"

"You seem..."

"Morgan... I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but stay out of this."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

When they arrive back at the BAU, Morgan headed straight for the coffee machine. Regina went to her desk. She looked in the window of Hotch's office. He was in there. _It's now or never. _She was about to go up when she saw Reid looking absent minded. She walked over to him. "You ok?"

"He want's to know what his psych eval says..."

" He might have killed two women. It's not your job to hold his hand through this."

"It reminds me of my mom. I used to think that if I could just understand absolutely everything there is to know about schizophrenia, then I'd somehow be able to fix it."

"You can't... I'm sorry."

Hotch walks up to them. "I need everybody in the conference room. If Nathan Harris isn't our unsub, we need a working profile."

"I need to talk to you," Regina said.

"Conference room."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

"This is our first victim," JJ began.

Hotch stepped in. "Our unsub held his urges in check for three months, and when he couldn't control them any more, he sent this message to the cops. We know the "help" and the hesitation marks mean he was ambivalent about the kill. What we don't know is why he chopped the hair."

"It's probably a way to minimize some of their power, robs them of their femininity," Gideon suggested.

Reid agreed. "That fits with him killing during the early morning. It's the time when prostitutes have the least power sexually, as opposed to at night, when he might see them as being on the prowl."

Emily interrupted. "Hey, I know we're just spitballing this here, but this profile points to Nathan Harris.

"I don't want to talk about Nathan Harris," Hotch snapped.

Morgan agreed with her. "Hotch, she is right. He reached out for help. This is an adolescent kid. He's probably intimidated sexually. I don't care how many times he says he didn't do it. He knew about the last victim, and he admitted to getting off on seeing her dead."

"We've got Nathan Harris. It doesn't do us any good to talk about him now. I just wanna make sure that if it's not him, we stay on top of things before it takes on a life of its own."

Regina held up her hands. "All right... we've got nothing better to do... Let's keep with the profile. If this isn't Nathan Harris, why waste time on the profile later?"

"So he's a sexual sadist," Gideon began again.

"The symbolism of stabbing them probably means he's impotent," Emily said. "The only way he can get off is by killing."

"Considering that cutting their hair and killing during the early morning both stem from feeling powerless," Reid began, "there's a chance his pathology's more than sexual. This is DC. Power's the most important commodity. Maybe this guy feels impotent in his professional life as well."

"Why these women though?"

"Access."

JJ pulled up a map. "Well, Northwest DC has three major hubs of prostitution -- near Florida Avenue; off Logan Circle; and McPherson Square, where the victims were found."

"So he probably works in or around Capitol Hill," Gideon said.

"Well, we'll go back out on the street in the morning and see if any of these women know someone who fits the description," Morgan said. Regina nodded.

"Good. It's late. Let's go home," Hotch ordered.

JJ stopped him. "Um, shouldn't we get word out to the papers?"

"Not yet."

"Well, it's not too late to make the morning edition."

"I said no," he snapped again. The team looked at each other, questioningly.

Regina stood and followed him hurridely out of the room. "Hotch."

"Not now, Regina."

"Yes now."

Hotch turned quickly. "No. It's been a long day, and it doesn't help that my son is probably already in bed. I'm going home."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

"It says failure," Emily says, kneeling close to the body of Holly.

Regina shook her head. "She was only sixteen."

Hotch stands a little behind them. "He's getting angrier and blaming the police for not stopping his impulses. Certainly not cooling off between kills anymore."

"Which means we're looking at a whole lot of bodies," Morgan said.

" Meanwhile in two days, Congresswoman Steyer's gonna stand up at the Capitol and declare Washington crime-free."

Emily stands. "Hey, what did she want with you the other day, anyway?"

Hotch glares at her. "It was a private conversation." Reid and Morgan glance at each other. They glance to Regina, who looks calm.

Emily looks embarrassed. "Right. Of course. I'm sorry."

"Well, I guess we know Nathan Harris isn't our unsub," Morgan said, changing the subject.

"Should we call Gideon and tell him not to bother with the eval?" Emily asked.

Reid shook his head. "No, he wants to understand what's happening to him. He deserves to know."

They all look down at the body.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Regina sat in the kitchenette with Morgan, Garcia and JJ. Her plan was to talk to Hotch when they got back but he had called Emily up to his office.

She jumped out of her seat when the door opened and Emily emerged. "I'll be back."

Regina hurried up the steps and passed out Reid, who was standing outside Gideon's office, then immediately Emily. Both moving fast because of Aaron Hotchner, though for two very different reasons.

She knocked on the door, then entered immediately. She closed the door behind her.

He glanced up. "I'm not in the mood."

"Neither am I... I really don't want to be here, but, hey... what can you do?" Hotch just shrugged. "Here's what you can do, you can tell me the truth. Why didn't you want me to stay here the other day?"

"I told you I had my reasons..."

"Which were?"

Hotch threw his pen down. "I didn't want you in the field with terrorists and bombs..."

"Why?"

Hotch paused and stood. "Because... I'm still in love with you."

"Since when?"

"You had your episode... Being with you... taking care of you... It felt... it felt like that was how it should be. Like everyday I should be taking care of you."

"Don't do this. Please, just tell me you're joking." Hotch was silent. "Please, don't do this."

"Regina, please. I never stopped loving you... I just... I made myself believe I loved Haley more."

"NO! You do love Haley more... You have to... Knowing that you love me... It's like... It's torture. Please, please, take it back."

"I can't. You wanted the truth."

Regina slowly left the office.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

When Gideon and Reid returned to the bullpen, Regina walked up to them. Her conversation with Hotch toko a lot out of her that now, she was just a robot.

"So Nathan's in custody?"

"They're holding him downtown," Reid answered.

"You really think he killed that last woman?"

"It's possible."

"But ...?

" Nathan's evolving. This last kill, it feels like a devolution."

Gideon agreed. "It was sloppy and angry. Nathan's smart and directed. He's used to achieving. If he decides to kill, it'll be clinical and efficient."

"So where does that leave us?"

"Back to the profile."

The three walked un to the conference room where Hotch, JJ, Emily and Morgan were.

Regina barely listened to the breifing. She was working too hard on keeping her eyes off Hotch.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Emily. "Regina... we need to get some of the girls who know someone who fits the description."

Regina nodded. "Right."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

They led the women up to the conference room and joined Morgan in the bullpen to watch the press conference.

"May I have your attention, please?" Hotch began. "A day from now, there will be an announcement across the street on the steps of the Capitol that crime is down significantly in Washington. This is a fact. It is also a fact, however, that there's a serial killer who's been targeting the prostitutes who work in this area. In fact, the last victim was found not a hundred yards from where we're standing. We're here today to let you know that the police and the FBI are working tirelessly on this case."

JJ stepped forward. "We'd like to stress to the women who work on these streets to please take caution. All right, first I'm gonna give a brief description of the man we're looking for, and then we'll take some questions. We believe the man responsible for these crimes works on or around Capitol Hill, possibly at a research or advocacy group dealing with issues of crime control or prevention."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Not long after Hotch arrived back, did he join Reid, Emily, Regina and the other women in the conference room with Congresswoman Karen Steyer. She stare at the three prostitutes.

"Just what point are you trying to make?"

"These women described similar experiences with the same man. We showed them police mug photos, and they didn't recognize him. We thought maybe you might know who he is," Hotch answered.

"Did you think you could shock me by treating me to this sideshow?"

"Sideshow?" one of the women got angry.

Holly's friend spoke. "Lady, enough of the men you work with treat themselves to us every day."

Steyer smiled. "My apologies, ladies."

Emily turned to the women. "Could you please tell the congresswoman who it is we're looking for?"

"He's tall and bald, and he's got sad eyes."

"He was always wearing a turtleneck with this long, dark coat, looked like a mortician."

"That's right. Hung around just watching for months before he finally got his nerve on, but then he just wanted to watch."

"Freak paid me and Racine two hundred bucks to turn each other's knobs, but then he started screaming at us that we were low women."

"Same thing with me, and his voice got real high and nasal when he got excited."

Hotch turned to the congresswoman. "Does that sound like anyone that you know?"

"No."

Reid holds a list. "I'm gonna read you a list of groups that lobbied on behalf of your legislation. Keeping in mind the description you just heard, tell me if anyone associated with these groups could be the man we're looking for. Uh, "The Crime Policy Institute," "The Center for Safety," "Citizens' Brigade," "Decency Watch--"

"Oh, my God."

Regina looked at her. "Decency Watch?"

"The man who runs it. Ronald Weems."

"Do you know him?"

"No. I mean, yes, but he's a nobody."

"But he fits this description?"

"Perfectly."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

That night Regina got no sleep.

That night, Hotch slept very peacefully, thinking of the woman who wasn't hanging onto him.


	14. The Big Game

Regina walked into the bar. _God, I hate football. _The only reason she was there was because, since Hotch told her he still loved her, she hadn't been able to go out for drinks after work with her firends. JJ had begged her to come. She had said that everyone was going to be there, minus Hotch and Gideon.

That had sold it to her. She arrived at the Irish bar, and searched the crowd. She saw JJ playing darts with some guy; she smiled at Reid, who was talking to a guy and a girl. She spotted Emily at the bar and walked over to her.

"Hey," she came from behind.

Emily turned and smiled. "Hi. I didn't think you were coming?"

"I know... I wasn't going to but I haven't come out with you guys much lately, so..."

Emily nodded. "Well, what are you having?"

"Uh... a Bud."

Emily told the waitress. "Go sit down, I'll be right there."

Regina eyed the glasses. "Are you sure? There are a lot of glasses."

"Go sit down... Hotch actually came."

"What?" Regina's eyes grew wide.

"Yeah, he brought his wife. God, she is so nice."

"Where?" Emily pointed. Looking around, Regina became frantic. "Emily, I should probably go--" It was too late: Hotch had spotted her.

"No, you have to stay, you're here now."

Regina nodded. "You sure you don't want a hand?"

Emily handed her a Budweiser and a Gin and Tonic. "You and Garcia."

Passing JJ, Regina leaned in. "I thought Hotch wasn't going to be here?"

She arrived at the table. Garcia smiled up at her friend. "You came!"

Regina nodded. She looked to the Hotchners and smled. "Hi."

"Hi," Haley replied.

Regina handed the G&T to Garcia. "Here."

"Oh, how'd your date go?"

Regina could feel her face burn up. She had spent the day with Dan, who wasn't the biggest fan of football. It wasn't exactly a date but, she figured, it might hurt Hotch the way he had hurt her. "Great."

Emily joined them as Regina took a seat.

"So how are they treating you at the BAU, Emily?" she heard Haley ask.

"Who's Reid talking to?" she asked Garcia.

Garcia shrugged. "He went up to get a drink and never came back."

Regina looked around. "Where's Morgan?"

Garcia pointed to a crowd of women surrounding a man. "Just look at him move. It's like a cat."

Regina scoffed. Emily laughed. "More like a dog!"

Garcia turned on the four. "He did not ask them to dance. They asked him."

Prentiss put up her hands in surrender. "Okay. Okay, he's a cat."

Regina leaned away from Garcia. "An alley cat."

Hotch stood. "Come on, Haley, let's go show them how it's done."

Regina watched as Haley took his hand. "I'm gonna go find Reid."

She joined Reid. "I know all about Star Trek," he was saying.

Regina smiled as JJ passed them. She winced.

"Return to Tomorrow?" the man asked.

" 'Return to Tomorrow,' season 2, production number 51, an alien entity, Sargon, takes over Kirk's body while two others take over Spock and Dr. Mulhall," Reid answered.

"Alien race or terran?"

"Trick question. A race is never identified. Sargon is a disembodied mind."

"And the Dr. McCoy quote?"

Reid hesitated. Regina leaned in closer. The woman sitting next to the guy began counting down. "5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ..."

" 'I will not peddle flesh. I'm a physician.' Drink!" He looked up at Regina. She smiled and ruffled his hair. "What are you doing here?"

"I got a good offer." Regina smiled. She looked around the room. JJ was standing at the door. She waved Regina over. Regina tapped Reid. "Reid. We gotta go."

Reid and Regina joined JJ. "Can you get the others?"

Regina nodded. She walked over to the table where Hotch, Haley and Morgan had rejoined the two girls.

Morgan turned. "Hey, princess. What are you doing here?"

"JJ wants us all outside ASAP."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

The team sit in the Round Table Room. Hotch, Morgan and Regina are standing, holding cups of coffee.

Morgan moves to a seat. "You know, it never fails. Just as I'm getting my groove thing going, bam. we're back at the BAU."

Reid leaned forward. "You know, statistically a case doesn't come in with any more frequency if you're at a party or a gathering and if you aren't. It's a trick of the mind. We merely remember the ones that came in that way more."

Everyone in the room smiled.

Regina sat next to Morgan. "And besides, is it really that hard for you to get your groove "thang" going again?"

Emily and Garcia laughed.

Gideon walked into the room. "Only when he's sleeping."

"Where were you tonight?" Hotch asked.

"I told you, I went to the Smithsonian."

JJ walked into the room. "Georgia. The Kyles -- Dennis and Lacy--were murdered an hour ago in their

suburban Atlanta home. Police were on scene unusually fast... One of the unsubs called them and told them that the other was about to murder the victims."

Morgan scoffed. "You're kidding me."

JJ shook her head. "From inside the house. According to the dispatcher, the first male sounded terrified and begged them to get there before the other, who they both identified as Raphael, was about to kill the sinners that lived there."

Hotch raised his eyebrows. "Sinners."

JJ nodded. "Garcia is getting a copy. Uh, the response time was four minutes, twenty-six seconds... Raphael managed to do this." JJ pulled up pictures of the gruesome crime scene. Mr. Kyle is a dot com millionaire. His company is one of the largest employers in the community. There's gonna be media coverage. Also, when they

arrived, the police found this displayed prominently on the bed." JJ revealed a page of a bible with a highlighted passage.

Hotch leaned forward. "Revelations, Chapter 6, Verse 8. They're killing sinners." Hotch read it. "And I looked and behold a pale horse, and his name that sat upon me was death."

Regina leaned back. "And hell followed with him."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Garcia appears on the laptop. _"I just got the 9-1-1 call from the Georgia State Police." _She played the call.

_"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"_

_"I'm at 1527 Chestnut Drive."_

_"I know where you're calling from. What's the emergency?"_

_"He thinks they're too greedy. They have too much."_

_"Too much what?"_

_"Stuff, you know, possessions. Things they don't need. Hurry!"_

_"You're calling because these people have too much stuff?"_

_"No, I'm calling because Raphael --"_

There's a thud. Another man speaks. "_That's enough. I know why he's calling, because _

_Raphael is going to kill the sinners that live here."_

_"I'm sorry, did you say someone is killing somebody?"_

Regina leans back ." The first unsub is definately frightened. Maybe he's doing this against his will."

"He could have called out," Hotch disagreed, "to save them instead of calling 9-1-1."

"Not if he had a gun to his head."

"If he had a gun to his head, why would he have dialed 9-1-1?"

JJ interrupted. "The second unsub said Raphael was going to kill someone. Is there a third?"

Reid answered. "Referring to oneself in the third person is not uncommon for an unsub. Ted Bundy gave thoroughly detailed accounts of his murders, but he never actually admitted to doing it. He would just say, "the killer.""

Garcia is typing in her office. _"Okay, so I'm gonna go ahead and run the name Raphael through the Georgia criminal databases as well as our own" _She vanished.

"So, we have a killing team on a mission in rural Georgia. That means that they're not gonna stop until the mission's complete. We need to hit the ground running. JJ, we need an inside picture of the victims. Victimology can be critically important in a mission-based spree." JJ nodded and headed to the back of the plane. "Williams, you have experience with autopsies. Go where the bodies are; examine the wounds. They managed to kill two victims in four and a half minutes. We need to know how." Everyone on the plane, save Regina and Gideon, were looking at him. He didn't seem to notice.

"You got it."

"I'm gonna set up at the Atlanta field office and go over case files from the state. It would be highly unusual for a first kill to be this efficient. Prentiss, you come with me."

Gideon doesn't look up from a photograph. "Reid, you and Morgan, come with me to the crime scene."

"We land in less than an hour. Everybody try to get some rest."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

"What was that back there?" Regina asked, taking a seat next to Hotch.

"What was what?" he asked, flicking through a file.

"You called me Williams. Since we were together, you never called me that, not even when I asked you to. Why today?" He was pretending not to hear. "Look, it's bad enough that you told me you loved me... that we work together... Can't we just...forget you said that?"

Hotch looked up at her in disbelief. "No. Regina, I love you. That can never change. I can't forget my feelings for you. More importantly, I don't want to." He smiled and took her hand. "I want you."

Regina just stared at him.

JJ walked over to them. "We're about to land."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

"These aren't stab wounds exactly," the ME was saying.

"What do you mean?" Regina asked

"They're all long, deep gashes. Each victim has virtually the same wounds --both throats cut, a vertical gash up one arm from wrist to elbow, and a vertical gash down one leg from crotch to upper thigh."

Regina nodded, understanding. "All major arteries...How much knowledge of anatomy would someone need to do this?"

"Anyone with a basic understanding of the body knows where these arteries are."

"And do you have any idea which one of these wounds was delivered first?"

"Um, there was a -- there was active blood flow from each of he wounds, so they're probably all delivered at about the same time. With any of these wounds, the victim would bleed out quickly, almost like an animal at slaughter." He pauses. Regina looks at him. "No. Exactly like an animal at slaughter--a deer or a lamb or

a cow, something like that. You -- you cut the throat first, then--then sometimes open up other major arteries to assist in draining the carcass."

Regina shrugged. "So maybe a hunter?"

"Or a farmer... Pretty much anyone in rural Georgia."

Regina raises her eyebrows. "Oh." She looks at the ME and gigles nervously. "Excuse me."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Everyone is back at the FBI Field office in Georgia. They are watching a video of a hodded man.

_"He says the world is a cesspool of greed. Lust. Disease."_

"Unsub number one," Emily says. "Raphael."

_"He says redemption must be sought. We must all repent."_

Some one else speaks. _"As Lord God spoke in Leviticus 26:18 --"_

"That's not the UnSub that made the call."

_"And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, --" _

"A third unsub?" Regina asked.

_"I will punish ye seven times more for your sins."_

"Five more victims," Gideon asnnounced.

JJ stood up. "Uh, who's is the computer? The unsubs'?"

Reid sat away from the team. "As far as we can tell, this computer belonged to the Kyles. Garcia can do a better analysis, but it has their banking statements, vacation photos." Reid immediately stands. "Does this building have wireless internet?" The agent nods. "That camera's on. The computer's connected itself to the Internet. It's streaming a video feed somewhere."

"Can we trace this stream to the destination?" Hotch asked.

"Keep it open, Garcia might be able --"

The computer beeps. A message appeared across the screen: _ THE ARMIES OF SATAN SHALL NOT PREVAIL._ The team look at each other. The screen goes blank.

"It turned off."

"They're controlling it remotely?" Hotch asked.

"Is that even possible?" Prentiss followed.

Regina looked around the room. She began humming the theme to _The X-Files._

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Regina and Reid stand in the coffee room. "You ok?"

Regina looks up, rubbing her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Does it have anything to do with Hotch?"

Regina looked at him. "Why would it be about Hotch?"

"He's been acting weird, you've been acting weird..."

"Reid... He told me he loved me. Still. WHat am I gonna do?"

"There's nothing you can do. He's married."

"I know that... but right now, I'm not so sure he does. God, you should have heard him on the plane."

Gideon interrupted. "We're regrouping."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

So what have we got so far?" Hotch asked.

"Killings are clinically efficient. Similar to a slaughter," Regina began.

"Haven't been able to find anything in federal or state databases that suggests similar crimes," Hotch said. "As far as I can tell, it's the first in a series."

Reid walked up to the board. "At least one member of the team may believe he's killing in the name of God, suggesting a psychopathy that should display extreme levels disorganization. Yet there are forensic countermeasures and somebody in control enough to do complicated computer work. One member of the team's organized, the other's extremely disorganized. But what's strange is that the one that we would consider as being most in control, the one that made the phone call, can't seem

to stop the other one from killing. Usually the frenzied personality takes direction from the cooler head."

Morgan looked. "All right, so let's look at that. Unsub one called the police before the killing, but he didn't leave time for him to get there. Is the phone call just a guy working on a defense in case of capture? I mean, maybe he didn't want to stop the other, but he did whatever he had to do to cover himself."

"So what do we have so far?" Gideon asked. He rested his eyes on each member of the team. "Not enough."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Reid and Regina sit at the table, eating a Rice Krispie bar. JJ and Hotch stood in front of the crime scene board. "So what are you going to do?"

"He's married with a son. What can I do?"

Reid looked at her. "Do you still love him?"

Regina paused. "Of course."

"You and Reid can go," they heard Hotch saying. They looked up.

Reid looked at Regina. She smiled. "O... ok."

When they were alone, he sat next to her. "You're starting to freak me out." She looked up at him.

"Then what can I do?"

"You can work... we'll talk about this later, when we're not working."

"Agent Hotchner?" the agent called. Hotch looked up. "There's been another murder."

"Go... I'll stay here."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

When Hotch, Morgan, Gideon and Emily walked back into the field office, Regina was sitting in the bullpen. "He's already posted the last murder," she called. "And there's this."

They walked over to the computer Regina was sitting at, talking to Garcia.

It shows the abducted woman. "That he spake by his servant, Elijah the tishbite, saying, in the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel." Dogs bark from off the camera. They are set loose. Emily looks away before the victim dies.

"You can turn it off," Hotch ordered.

"Wait," the detective said. "Those dogs. Those three dogs attacked someone a couple of months ago. I would have had them impounded, but the victim knew the owner. A neighbor. He didn't want to press charges."

"Sure?" The detective nodded. "Was there a name?"

"Hankel... Tobias Hankel."

Regina looked at Hotch, her eyes wide. "Tobias Hankel?" Hotch asked.

"He made the call... about the prowler..." Hotch shook his head. Regina realises something. "To gauge response time."

"We have to get out there!"


	15. Revelations

The team drove to Tobias Hankel's farm.

Gideon and Hotch went straight for the house. Morgan, Regina and Emily took the barn.

They went in with their guns drawn. JJ jumped up from nowhere, gun drawn. "FBI!"

Her team turn their guns on her. "JJ!"

"Don't move!" she screamed.

Regina stepped fprward. "Jage, it's Morgan, Regina and Emily... It's okay... Don't shoot." JJ lowered her gun. "Are you hurt?"

JJ shook her head. "Tobias Hankel is the unsub."

Morgan nodded. "We know."

"We just thought he was a witness. I had to kill them."

Regina grabbed her arm. "Where's Reid?"

"They completely tore her apart."

"JJ. Reid?"

"We split up... He said he was going to go in the back."

Morgan and Regina turned quickly.

"I'll check the back," she said.

"I'll tell Hotch and Gideon."

Regina races into the house fifteen minutes later. "I can't find Reid! It looks like someone's been dragged."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Regina walked slowly along the hall of the hotel. Hotch, Morgan and Emily had brought JJ back after the paramedics had checked her out. Regina satyed with Gideon, but, after falling asleep, he had sent her back there.

"Find him," she said.

She stood outside her door, holding her key. "Reid..." she whispered. "Where are you?"

She glanced along the hall. She moved two doors down and knocked on the door. It swung open. "I knew you'd still be up."

Hotch turned as she walked into the room. "Are any of us going to be sleeping soon?" he asked.

She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Hold me." He held her for god knows how long. "I hate you," she whispered, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?"

"You confuse me so much... I want this but I don't but there's nothing better."

"Ok," he soothed. He led her over to the bed. "You look exhausted. Get some sleep." He moved over to the table.

"Where you going?"

He held up the case file. "We've gotta find Reid."

He wrapped one arm around Regina and held the case file in the other. She looked up at him. "You were right."

"About what?"

"This... it feels right." She hesitated.

"But..."

She winced. "It isn't."

He dropped the case file and pulled her closer. "Regina... I love you. I'll do anything to keep you safe. I'll do anything to keep you happy."

She looked up at him. "Kiss me."

He did just that. He continued kissing her until she fell asleep.

When she woke up he was up and dressed. "Wham, bam, thank you ma'am?" she asked, sitting up.

Hotch smiled. "We didn't sleep together. And I have to go pick up Garcia." He leaned in and kissed her.

"I'll see you at the farm." He reached the door. "Oh, I love you too." He smiled and left.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

"Welcome to our nightmare," JJ greeted as Hotch and Garcia walked in.

"His computer's through here," Regina said, taking a bag from Hotch. "I'll set you up. Come on."

"Wow, his mainframe is idiosyncratic, but it's pretty brilliant."

"Talk to me about what this son of a bitch watches on-line. What the hell is all of this?"

"It's tame stuff -- video games, software, sports. Seriously, if I had to guess whose system this belongs to, I would say a crazy smart high-school kid."

"A mission-based killer like Hankel would need constant reassurance -- religious manifesto, violent images, something."

"Nothing, sorry."

"They're not even here. All I have is a site he set up once he commandeered people's webcams, and he keeps a running clock, and at a certain point, each one is bookmarked with a different heading."

" 'Adulterer, liar, thief.' This guy sits here for days and just watches these people, and he waits for them to commit a sin."

"Yeah, but Reid's completely innocent."

"If you dig deep enough on any of us, we all have our sins, including Reid."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

"Hey guys! Get in here now!" Regina called from the computer room.

Everyone joins Garcia and Regina. They stare at the screen of the beaten Reid.

"Can't you track him?" JJ asked, urgently.

"He's only streaming this to his home computer."

"This is for is. He know's we're here," Gideon said.

Morgan began pacing. "I'm gonna put this guys head on a stick."

"Why can't you locate him?" Hotch asked.

"He's rerouting to a different IP address every thirty seconds. I can't track him.

_"Choose one to die of these people to die," _Charles Hankle ordered.

_"No,"_ Reid replied. _"You're a sadist and a psychotic break. You won't stop killing. Your word's not true."_

_"The other heathens are watching. Choose a sinner to die, and I'll say the name and address of the person to be saved."_

_"I won't choose who gets slaughtered and have you leave their remains behind like a poacher."_

_"I'll choose who lives. Far right."_

_"Marilyn David, 4913 Walnut Creek Road."_

"You get that?" Hotch asked Garcia.

"Yeah." She pulled up the phone number.

Gideon was on the phone in seconds.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

When they got back from the third victim's house, Hotch saw Regina standing at the far end of a field.

When he reached her, he wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her neck. "I want to take care of you," he whispered.

"I've been thinking and... It should never have happened. Last night was wrong." She wrapped her arms around him. "I love you... But, we just."

"I don't want to do this."

"Moment of weakness?"

"Can there be more?" Hotch asked innocently, taking her hands.

Regina just shook her head, climbed up to her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

The team watch as Hankle gives Reid mouth to mouth.

"Wait. Wait a second. When was the video of the last murder posted?" Prentiss asked.

"Nine twenty three," Garcia answered.

"And TOD?"

"The 911 call came in at 9:04, and the murder must have been moments later," Hotch answered.

"That's a nineteen minute difference," Regina stated.

"How long would it take to post the mpeg?" Morgan asked.

"Two or three minutes," Garcia responded.

"Let's call it two. You figure a maximum of sixty miles an hour in a residential area. That means Hankel has to be within a 17-mile radius of the crime scene. Can we see that on a map?"

"I want that area locked down like it's martial law," Gideon announced. Regina nodded, already pulling out her cell.

Reid comes to. _"You came back to life,"_ Raphael stated.

_"I was given CPR."_

_"How many other members are on your team?"  
_

_"Seven."_

_"The seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first sounding followed hail and fire mixed with blood, and they were thrown to earth."_

"He thinks it's Revelations -- the seven archangels versus the seven angels of death." Regina looked up at Hotch.

_"Choose one to die."_

_"No."_

Raphael loaded his gun. He aims at Reid's head. "_Choose."_

_"No." _

He pulls the trigger. Nothing. "_Choose."_

"_I won't do it."_

Again, there was nothing when he pulled the trigger. _"Choose and prove you do god's will."_

_"I won't do it."_ Nothing. Again, the team let out a sigh of relief.

_"Life is a choice."_

_"I choose... Aaron Hotchner... He's a classic narcissist. He thinks he's better than everyone else on the team. Genesis 23:4. "Let him not deceive himself and trust in emptiness, vanity, falseness, and futility, for these shall _

_be his recompense."_

The team all looked at Hotch. He hurridely left the room. The team followed.

"I'm not a narcissist," he insisted.

"He didn't mean anything bt it..." Gideon assured.

"Stop. All right, everybody right now -- what's my worst quality?" Everyone looked at everyone else. "Okay. I'll start. I have no sense of humor."

"You're a bully," JJ continued.

"I'm a bully."

"You can be a drill sergeant sometimes."

"Right."

"Though your intentions may be in the right place, your actions can be questionable."

"Okay."

"You don't trust women as much as men."

"Okay, good. I'm all these things, but none of you said that I ever put myself above the team, because I don't. Ever. Reid and I argued about the definition of classic narcissism, and he knew that I would remember that, and he also quoted Genesis, Chapter 23, Verse 4. Read it."

He handed the bible to Regina. ""I am a stranger and a sojourner with you. Give me property, forbear a place among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight.""

"He wouldn't get it wrong unless it was on purpose."

"He's in a cemetery."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

"I don't see a cemetery," Garcia said.

"Pull up the first time we asw Reid," Gideon ordered.

Reid appeared. _"I won't choose who gets slaughtered and have you leave their remains behind like a poacher."_

"Check to see if there are any reports of poaching in the last couple of days."

"Okay. A farmer reported two sheep being slaughtered on his property.

"Where?" Morgan asked.

JJ pointed to the screen. "What's that patch of green there?"

"Marshall Parish. I think it's an old plantation," Hotch said.

"Wait. Tobias wrote in his journals about staying clean and keeping away from Marshall," Emily stated.

Garcia looked up. "Guys, there's a cemetery on the grounds."

They ran.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

He was safe. No one wanted to let him go when they found him. No one wanted him hurt. But Gideon choose to stay back in Georgia with him.

Regina was getting ready to go home when Haley arrived. "Is Aaron still here?" Regina pointed to his office just as he walked out.

She watched sadly as Haley hurried up to him and hugged him. "Are you alright?"

Hotch nodded. He looked at Regina. She smiled and waved.

"_I love you," _he mouthed.

She paused. _"Me too."_


	16. No Way Out: Evolution of Frank

_What a hell of a year so far_, Regina thought walking down the street with Dan. He was talking but she was barely listening. She was too caught up in her own thoughts of the events that had occured: Elle got shot, had shot someone and left the team; Emily Prentiss had mysteriously shown up; Morgan had been accused of murder; Reid had been abuducted and tortured; and Hotch had told her he still loved her. And now she was walking down a street, hand in hand, with friendly neighbour Dan. All the cases she had seen had finally begun to leave an impression, the unsubs had begun to make her sick. One in particular was Frank. Frank and his eviscirated victims would never leave her memory. Nor would Tobias and Charles Hankle and the Archangel Raphael who had tortured Reid.

Regina shook her head. _Why are you thinking about unsubs?_

Dan turned to her. "This doesn't feel like a friendly thing anymore."

"It's not..."

"When did it change?"

Regina thought for a moment. "I think when I got home and realised that the past is in fact the past and there's no point dwelling on it so I might as well try out new and better

things." She smiled.

"So does that mean I can kiss you?" She nodded. When he leaned down and pressed their lips together, Regina was stunned. It was a good kiss, a slow kiss. But it didn't send a rush through her body. He pulled away. "Sorry." Regina frowned. When he reached into his pocket, Regina understood. Being a cop meant that he couldn't frown on when she left and she couldn't frown on when he left.

He turned back to her. "It sounds bad." He tilted his head. "Why don't you come and give your expert opinion? And then maybe head back to my place?"

Regina nodded, not particualrly looking forward to the last part.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Regina stared at the familiar hallway. "Dan," she asid urgently. "Who's the victim?"

Dan shrugged. "Didn't say."

"Please don't be Gideon's... please don't be Gideon." They climbed under the police tape. The room was in disarray. Regina looked around.

"What are you doing here?" Hotch asked from behind her.

Regina spun. Hotch was glaring at Dan. Dan gripped Regina's hand tightly. Regina struggled free and walked up to Hotch.

"What happened? Is Gideon--?"

"Missing. I don't know where he is."

"Then who--?"

"A college friend."

"God. Who did this?"

"I don't know but local PD want to question us all." He looked her up and down, taking in her make up, hair, clothes. "What are you doing here?"

She stared at him. "I was on a date. Dan got the call and asked me to come to give my opinion."

Hotch looked at her in disbelief. "You went on a date with Dan?"

"Jealous?" she teased.

"No. I just thought you had more class," he replied before returning to the window."

Regina turned away from him and moved to an armchair. "Can't possibly see why," she mumbled, sitting down. "I slept with you."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

The rest of the team walked in. "Where's Gideon?" Morgan asked.

"I called his cell but it's right there," Hotch says, turning to the table.

"PD thinks he did this?"

"They have six witnesses who saw him running down the street, covered in blood, wielding a gun."

"Probably chasing the son of a bitch who did do this."

"Either way, we're under strict orders not to get in the way of the investigation. Gideon's a suspect; we're his colleagues."

Morgan sighed. "Conflict of interest. There's no way they'll ask for our help," Regina explained.

"Which he needs badly right now," Hotch announced. "PD wants us to answer questions so we need to assess what we can while we can."

"Evisceration of the torso, removal of various organs. The guy's clearly a sexually sadistic psychopath," Regina began.

"He's well-versed with a scalpel. He's done this before. We need to at least get photos," Emily stated.

"Regina, talk to your friend... get us some leeway. JJ, your cell phone -- get as many as you can as quickly as you can. Get them to Garcia," Hotch oredered. "No sign of forced entry. Why?"

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Hotch watched as Regina begged with Dan. She turned to him, nodded and then walked to the bedroom. The team followed.

"Everything is as it was. Nothing has been disturbed. Wine poured but not victim simply let the assailant in," Morgan started again.

Regina followed him around the apartment. "Forensics won't find any defensive wounds. Why? Because she didn't defend herself. She couldn't. He came here looking for Gideon and he found her."

"He knew he didn't have a lot of time, but ... here she is, and here he stands -- a sexual sadist. A psychopath with the need to kill just as natural as his need to breathe."

Prentiss walks close to the bedroom. "He moved swiftly, every stroke of his blade exact, from lower torso

to throat. She was awake the entire time, until mercifully she passed away."

"The tox report will find high levels of ketamine in her blood. He opened her up, removed her lower-right rib bone, which is missing." Regina stared at the body.

"Regina," Morgan said, "left hand."

Regina bends down and opens the hand. She takes out a bone. "Part of a rib bone," she breathed. She looked up at Morgan. "Frank's back."

Reid stepped forward. "Why give this to Sara? Why not Jane?"

"It's not for Sara," Hotch stated. "it's for us. It's a message."

They leave the room. "We need to tell the police what we found," Regina said.

"Wait," Hotch ordered.

"For what?"

"There are a number of ways this scene could be interpreted, and all of them could indicate Gideon. As long as Frank's out there, we can't afford to stop and explain any of it."

"They deserve to know what we're dealing with."

"I said wait."

Morgan, Reid and Emily looked at them.

"Last time, he did all of this for Jane. Things have changed."

"Maybe she's dead. They had a lovers' quarrel and he killed her?" Emily pondered.

"If he came here looking for Gideon, maybe he found him," Morgan stated. He turned to Regina. "Let's go find out where Gideon went." The team leave except for Hotch.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

The team spilt up outside of Gideon's apartment. Emily and Regina go one way, while Morgan and Reid go another.

"So what's going on between you and Hotch?" Emily asked.

Regina looked at her. She smiled. "What are you talking about?"

Emily straightened. "In the apartment... he was taking a kinda sarcastic tone with you whenever he mentioned Dan. And then he snapped at you when you asked to tell the PD about Frank."

"You're profiling... We don't profile each other."

"I'm not profiling. I'm merely observing. Putting what I know together... Then there's what happened in Georgia."

Regina looked up, startled. The only person she had told about that night was Reid and Garcia. Neither would tell. "Um, Georgia?" Emily nodded, raising he eyebrows. Regina sighed. "Who told you about Georgia?"

Emily frowned. "I saw you two... Anyone else could have... You two were out in the open."

"We were in the room."

Emily stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

"When I got back from the farm when Reid went missing..." Regina looked at Emily. "What are you talking about?"

Emily raised her eyebrows. "When Hotch and Gideon came back from the third victim's house, in the field..." Regina nodded in understanding. "What happened in the hotel?"

Regina shook her head. "Nothing... You were saying."

"I know I haven't been here long, but Hotch's actions toward you and his demeanor..."

"Emily," Regina interrupted. "We used to be... involved... romantically. A while ago, when he and Haley were seperated. We still have unresloved feelings toward each other and... Reid's important to me... It was a moment of weakness."

"Right." The girl's went back to work. "So, what did happen at the hotel?"

Regina laughed. "You don't want to know."

The team regrouped outside of Gideon's apartment.

"Frank had to have come out the same way down this street," Morgan said. "If they saw Gideon, they saw Frank."

"Frank will do whatever it takes to blend in and not stand out," Emily observed.

"To avoid attracting attention, he would have simply walked calmly out of that crime scene," Regina stated. " But the evisceration of Sarah, though, means he would have been soaked in her blood."

"No, he had access to Gideon's closet. He cleans up, gets a change of clothes, he's out."

"Yet he left no trace of evidence at the crime scene?" Reid asked.

Hotch walked up to them, holding a plastic bag. He held it up. "Gideon said he dumped it en route."

"You spoke with Gideon?" Regina asked. "Where is he?"

"Safe."

Emily became excited. "Well, that's all the proof we need, right? We can turn him over to the MPD now."

"By the time this comes back from the lab, Frank's long gone."

"If the cops find out we're hiding evidence and a material witness from them --" Regina began.

"We're not hiding evidence. We'll give this to Forensics, let them search for DNA. We'll look for Frank."

A young boy walked up to them. "Agent Morgan?" the team looked at him "They say beauty can cover a multitude of sins."

Morgan looked down the street. "What the hell?" Regina asked.

"But underneath it all we all look exactly the same."

"Frank," Morgan said. "He said that to me in the diner."

"Give me Jane or I'll kill them all."

"Frank thinks we have Jane," Regina stated.

"We need to find her fast," Hotch said.

"Can I have my ten bucks now?" the boy asked.

"No." Regina pulled out her badge. "Go home, kid."

"Gideon saw Jane just before Frank called him. If we find Jane, we'll find Frank," Hotch said.

"Last time we found Frank, he outsmarted us."

Morgan agreed. "He took a busload of children hostage. He gave us no options."

Hotch nodded. "He's not going to give us any now."

Reid looked from one to another. "Frank's message -- He said, "I'll kill them all." Who's he referring to?"

The team look at each other. Regina answered her phone and put JJ on speaker.

"Guys, Gideon had a black leather-bound book. Garcia discovered something. It looks like the first page has been ripped out. You can only really see what's left on the side of the page, but it's definitely Gideon's handwriting. Looks like some kind of a list."

"It's his murder book," Hotch explained.

"Murder book?" Emily asked.

"It's a list of all the people he's ever saved. Names, dates, personal details. And now Frank has the list. Frank said, "I'll kill them all." That's who he's going after... JJ, start locating all the possible targets. We need to call them and warn them." Regina closed the phone.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Reid, Emily, Hotch and Morgan rush into the room. "What have we on Jane?"

JJ looked up. "I gave photos of Jane and Frank to all media outlets, and I'm liaising with Washington MPD."

"Ok. If you locate her, make sure we're the first to interrogate her. Don't let PD get to her."

"Is that wise?" Morgan asked.

"No, but it is an order. Whatever you do, bring her here first. She's the only one who knows who Frank is... What about possible victims?"

Regina stood. "We've narrowed it down to nine possible targets. Their contact details are in the files. Everybody grab a phone and start calling."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Everyone looked up when JJ put her possible target on speaker phone. _"I regret to inform you that Rebecca's name should be _

_moved to a new list."_

"Frank, we don't have her. We don't have Jane," Hotch informed.

_"I will not stop until I have her back."_

"Frank... Frank!" _Beep. _"Go! GO!"

The team was already out the door.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Morgan kicked down the door. "FBI!"

They spread out through the apartment. "Guys," Hotch called.

They move into the living room, where Rebecca Bryant is lying on the floor, dead.

"Guys, we've got a not from Frank: _7 a.m, Union Station"_

Reid entered the room. "That was JJ. All eight other targets on the list are sife and accounted for."

Hotch paced the room. "Then we've missed someone or somethingNow that he's set a meeting. He's going to raise the stakes. Just like he did last time. He's going to make it impossible for us to not trade Jane for whoever he's got."

Regina's phone rang. She pressed speakerphone. "Yeah JJ."

_"Guys, I think I found Jane. The beat cops picked up a woman who was ranting and raving about needing to talk to the BAU. She…uh…assaulted one of the police officers. She's being processed as we speak."_

"So what have we missed?" Regina asked.

"Frank's incapable of experiencing normal feelings," Reid said.

"But he takes what normal people hold sacred."

Emily looked up from the body. "Children."

"Prentiss," Hotch said. "Prentiss go to Jane. We'll all meet back at the BAU. I'm going to wait for the CSU... JJ, I also need you to look at relocations, anything involving children. Families that have moved into the DC area since the case."

Regina nodded. "I'll call PD." Hotch looked at Regina. "If he's going after children and none of the kids in Gideon's book have relocated, he's going to go after whatever he can. PD need to be informed."

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Regina walked back into the apartment. She looked around. Hotch was staring at the body. "PD will be here ASAP."

"Did you ring professionally or personally?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Are you letting your personal relationship with that cop make your decisions professionally?"

Regina scoffed. "I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer."

"No answer being a yes?"

"Ok... Hotch, we agreed."

"That doesn't cange a thing... and besides, we agreed that it was a moment of weakness."

"Regina," came a voice in the hall.

Regina looked over. Dan walked into the room. He stared at the body. His face went pale. "Wh--?"

"We need more lee way... Dan, we know what we're dealing with, Dan... He's been our most prolific serial killer."

Dan nodded. "Whatever you need."

Hotch closed his cell. "Tracey Bell relocated to McLean." He grabbed Regina's arm. "We have to go."

Walking out the door, Hotch bent low. "I can handle what Frank does... He can't. Is that really someone you want. Regina glared.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

The next day Hotch, Regina, Emily and Morgan were on their way to meet Frank and Gideon, while JJ and Reid flew out to New York to look for Tracey Bell.

"Will they be able to find her on time?" Morgan asked.

"I hope so." Regina clutched the arm rest as Hotch swerved in and out of traffic. "Did Gideon say where he'd be?"

Hotch shrugged. "He'll be there."

Regina nodded. "In what capacity?"

Hotch looked over at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Will he be an agent or an executioner?"

They arrived at the station and spread out. They met on Platform 11 after the call came on the radio. They surrounded Frank. Gideon had beat them to him.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

"My team, let me tell you about my team: Agent Morgan fought to protect his identity from the very people who could save him -- Why? Because trust has to be earned, and there are very few people he truly trusts. Agent Williams builds up a tough exterior to protect herself from any disappointment that might come her way. Reid's intellect is a shield which protects him from his

emotions, and at the moment his shield is under repair. Prentiss overcompensates because she doesn't yet feel she's a

part of the team. She needn't worry. Every day, Agent Jareau fields dozens of requests for our team. And every night she goes home hoping she's made the right choices. Garcia fills her office with figurines and color to remind herself to smile as the horror fills her screens. And Agent Gideon, in many ways, is damned by his profound knowledge of others. Which is why he shares so little of himself, yet he pours his heart into every case we handle.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Regina stood silently at the door of the dim lighted office before knocking. Hotch didn't turn from the window. "I'm going." Hotch nodded. "You know, after what happened in Georgia, after us... declaring our feelings for each other... I was hoping that we could salvage...something. I can't, Hotch... I can't do that... Not again."

"Well, you won't have to worry about that for the next two weeks... I've been suspended." He grabbed his bag and walked to the door. "Good night." He bent down and kissed her forehead before turning out the light and walking out.


	17. Author's Note 2

I need a second (or more) opinion. I have two ideas in mind for In Birth and Death:

1. Regina, instead of Emily, decides to leave. This equals more info on Regina.

**OR**

2. Emily decides to leave and Regina goes to Milwaukee. This equals less info on Regina but more of a pull toward Hotch.

I'm just looking for people's opinion on what I should do cause I'm kinda being pulled in both directions.


	18. In Birth & Death

**So after thinking long and hard over this and watching Criminal Minds Season 3 DVDs this is what I came up with. Let me know what you think**

"Hey, Anderson," Regina greeted as she walked into the bullpen.

"Whoa..." Morgan stared. "You're..."

Regina cringed. "I washed it out." Morgan stared at his friends natural brown hair.

"Next time... give me a heads up when you're gonna change it." Regina nodded.

"Everybody in?"

"I dunno about Gideon, I dunno where Emily is, Hotch isn't due for another while and Reid..." He pointed to Gideon's office. "is still sleeping."

"He slept there all night?" Morgan nodded. "We've taken a really hard hit, haven't we?"

"We'll pull through."

"How many of us?" she speculated aloud.

Garcia rushed into the room. "Come with me." Morgan looked at Regina. "Come with me. Now." The two hurried up and followed her out of the bullpen and to an old office that had been vacant.

The office was now full of computers and colourful ornaments and pictures, clearly belonging to Garcia. On one side of the room was a giant map

"Wow..." Regina walked slowly further into the room, taking it in. "This is one swanky office."

Morgan eyed her suspiciously. "Who you sleeping with around here?"

Garcia scoffed. "Please, I'm not Reg."

"What?" Morgan looked at Regina, whose eyes were wide.

"Garcia!"

"Oh... you mean he...?" There was a pause. "But look at my map."

Morgan looked from one to the other.

JJ walked in. "We got a case... Nice office."

"What did she mean back there?" Morgan asked as he and Regina sat in the Round Table Room waiting for Reid and JJ.

Regina shook her head. "Nothing."

"Something... She wouldn't have said it if she didn't mean something."

"Forget it." JJ and Reid walked in.

Morgan stared at the door for a few minutes, waiting for the rest. He turned to the other three. "Well this room just keeps getting smaller and smaller. Should we wait?"

JJ looked at her watch and shook her head. "We can brief them on the plane."

"Where we headed?" Regina asked.

"Milwaukee." JJ pulled up some pictures. "Four murders in the last three weeks, and another woman has been missing since for the last two days. All of the victims have been women in their thirties, married, with children. All of the women were from Wauwatosa, and they were all abducted from public places."

"How do we know it's the same guy?" Reid asked.

"Because of this." JJ pushes a button. A picture pops up of the victims with their hearts cut out.

Regina leaned forward. "Wow..."

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Regina walked into the bathroom. Emily was standing there. "Hey..."

"Hey, you're here. Thank god... If it was just gonna be me and the boys I think I'd go crazy." Regina was in the cubicle.

"I'm not coming to Milwaukee..." Regina stared at her. "What?"

"I'm resigning... I stand a chance getting a place in the State Department."

"But.. you can't go." Regina walked back out. "Emily..."

"You'll cope without me." Regina turned and headed for the door. Emily pointed to the cubicle. "Don't you have to--"

"I have an obligation." She walked out of the room

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Regina arrived on the plane just as it was about to take off. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Section Chief Strauss sitting by the entrance.

JJ looked over at her. "Reg." Regina looked to her. JJ tilted her head to the seat. She took the one nearest to Strauss. "Ma'am."

When everyone took off their seat belts, Regina moved over to JJ, Reid and Morgan. "Where's Hotch and what is she doing here?"

"Hotch is transferring," Morgan stated.

"And Section Cheif Strauss is overlooking the case." JJ looked over at the woman. "You know from this angle she almost looks human."

Regina smiled. Reid looked up from the case file. "Did anyone speak to Emily before?"

"Yeah... I ran into her in the bathroom. And, apparently, she stands a good shot at the State Department." Regina looked down at a file, trying to act casual. "So, um, where's Hotch? He's due back today, right?"

"He's transferring," Morgan announced. He looked at JJ just in time to see her glance at Reid and then Regina. It hit him. He looked at Regina accusingly. "Hotch!?"

Regina looked up at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Garcia was talking about you and Hotch this morning?"

Regina shook her head and glanced over at Strauss. "Not here."

Reid got the idea and tried to change the subject. "Has she ever been in the field?"

Regina shook her head. "Reid..."

Reid looked up. Strauss was standing there. "Isn't it protocol to brief everyone on the case before we land?" She looked pointedly at JJ.

"Of course." Strauss sat down.

Regina looked through her files. "The unsub abducts women from very public places, holds them for 48 hours with no sexual assault, and then dumps the bodies in public places with their hearts carved out." Morgan pulled out some graphic crime scene photos and placed them in front of Strauss. Regina kicked him under the table.

Reid looks up, then away. "The unsub has some skill and physical strength, but, although he doesn't mind blood, doesn't have surgical skills."

Strauss nodded. "Do we have a working theory yet?"

Morgan nodded. "Yeah... This guy really doesn't like women."

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"Hey," Regina walked up to Reid in the coffee room. "You ok?"

"Are you?" Reid countered. "I know that it was easier for you to be apart from Hotch when he was near you but now..."

Regina nodded. "I'll be fine."

Morgan walked up to them. He held out his cell. "Call him."

"Excuse me?"

"I've been trying to convince him to get his ass over here but he won't... Maybe you can convince him to." Regina looked from Morgan to Reid, who looked like Morgan might be right.

She took the phone from him. "This is not going to work." She began dialling.

"I can't believe you and Hotch were..."

"Not now. I don't want to give Strauss another reason to bust our asses off... Close the door." Morgan did as she asked and waited. Someone answered.

_"Hello?" _Regina sighed.

"I need to speak to Hotch... It's important."

There was a pause. _"Just a minute."_ The phone changed speaker. _"Hello?"_

"It's me."

_"What's wrong?"  
_

Regina took a deep breath. "Gideon's still missing, we're worried; Strauss insulted the lead detective as soon as she arrived on scene. We're falling apart without you... we need you."

There was a pause. _"I've applied for a transfer."_

"It's not in the system yet, Hotch, I checked. Hotch... we really need you."

She heard him sigh. _"I need to think." _There was a click on the line.

She closed the phone. "He needs to think."

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The team sat around the conference table. JJ looked up. "Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way... Maybe this is affecting the boy's behaviour."

Regina nodded. "Maybe he's a troubled kid."

Strauss reached forward and dialled the phone.

Garcia answered. _"Talk dirty to me."_

The room was stunned: Morgan tried to speak but words failed him; JJ smiled, Regina supressed a grin and Reid looked uncomfortable.

"This is Section Chief Erin Strauss."

"Oh my god, Ma'am... I think it is safe to say I was expecting someone else."

"Can you get me a list of all the schools in the Third Ward?"

"Yes, ma'am... There are forty three."

"And how many of those have a councillor that deals directly with children?"

"Nine."

"Thank you."

"And for the record, ma'am--"

She didn't care. "Get this profile to the councillors." She stood and walked away.

"A-class bitch!" Regina muttered.

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"Looks like it's gonna be a long night," Morgan mused as he downed a cup of coffee.

Regina finished off one file and began another, when Reid looked up. "Hey look who's here!"

One by one the team looked up to see Hotch and Emily walk into the room. "You came?" Morgan asked, looking back at Regina. Regina smiled and looked back at her case file.

"How fast can you catch us up to speed?" Emily asked.

"How fast can you sit down?" JJ retorted.

Strauss walked into the room. Emily looked up. "We're only here to help."

Strauss looked to Hotch. "We'll deal with this later."

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Regina squeezed her tea bag before taking a sip. Morgan walked up behind her. "Hey..."

She smiled. "Hi."

He looked to Hotch. "He came when you called." He looked back at her. "So what happened?"

"Remember that night in San Francisco? That actress was abducted?" Morgan nodded. "He made me feel like I could take on anything. Like I could take you on." She smiled. "I think I fell in love with him a long time ago."

"So what happened?"

"Haley. She got pregnant; we called it quits; I transferred to CSU as a temp and then I came back." She shrugged.

"And?"

"And I still love him..." She smiled at him. "But I'm gonna try and make things work with Dan."


	19. Children Of The Dark

Regina played with her spoon, staring absently ahead of her. She didn't notice Emily behind her.

"Hey. How's it hanging?" Emily walked up to her. "Regina? Reg?"

Regina started. "God, sorry. I was a million miles away."

"I could tell. Is everything alright?"

"Of course not..." She shook her head. "Yes, I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine. Wanna talk about it?"

Regina looked at Emily, unsure. "Um, my mother rang."

Emily nodded. "Ok," she replied.

"My family and I are... kinda seperated. We don't get along." The two girls walked over to a table. "My father wanted me to join local law enforcement. He was a politician and wanted me to be his little informant. I chose the BAU. My mom always did as she was told." Regina looked up from her coffee. "And then she rang me... yesterday. I missed the call."

"Why did she call? When was the last time you spoke?"

"When I decided to join the BAU. She said it was important... too much to tell me over the phone."

"Are you gonna call her back?"

Regina shrugged. "I don't know. I've always wanted her to be proud of me but... I gave up." She smiled. "And now... I don't know." She shook her head. "What should I do?"

JJ walked toward them. "Case," she called, walking up the steps to the Round Table Room.

"What do _you _think you should do?" Regina shook her head as they headed up the stairs.

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Regina threw her keys on the kitchen table before pulling out a soda from the fridge. She held her phone in her hand, playing with it. Finally, reaching a decision, she started dialling.

"Hey, mom... Listen. I'm gonna be in Boston next week with... work. So if you want to grab a drink."

**Hey guys. This is probably goning to be the last chapter I'm gonna write for a while... There might not be anymore all nighters until Halloween. School starts on the first and, as it's my final two years there, I really need to knuckle down. So updates may take a while!**

**Sorry!**


	20. Confrontations

**AN:: So in the previous chapter I said that Regina's father was a politican... that was a mistake. He is actually a lawyer.**

Regina sat at the end of the table next to Reid, her hands sweating as more and more as the minutes passed. Finally, Hotch finished his speech and the four profilers stood. Following Reid, Morgan and Hotch out of the room, Regina checked her watch. _Eight-fifteen. _

She walked ahead of them. "I'm gonna head back to the hotel."

Morgan grabbed her arm. "Wh-- No! We're not leaving until morning. I've planned the whole night."

"I've made prior plans."

"Like what?"

"Like an early night."

"Nah uh. When you use words like prior, it means you're hiding something."

"Something I don't want you to know." Hotch watched her walk away, curious.

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Regina was putting on her pearl earrings when a knock came from the door. She opened it to find Morgan standing there. He stared at her in amazement. "Whoa. So much for an early night." He took in the black-with-white-polka-dots wrap-around dress and let his eyes linger on her bare legs.

"I'm sorry about before. I just don't want to talk about it."

"Well, I gotta tell you something. Can I come in?"

"Sure." Regina walked over to her bed and grabbed her Roman-sandle style heels. "Shoot... And make it quick."

"Ok.. Short story is: Hailey's gone."

Regina looked up. "What?"

"That case in Milwaukee, when we got back, he went home and she was gone."

"How do you--"

"He told me. And I know it was in confidence but now you can be there and win him back."

"Um, You're forgetting I have a boyfriend and this has happened before."

"But he doesn't think she's coming back."

"Morgan."

"Would you even try?"

"No..." She looked at the clock. "I've got to go. I'm meeting my mother in five minutes."

"But--"

They walked to the door. "Hotch and I cannot happen... It's too.... Toxic."

"What's too toxic?" They looked across the hall at Hotch. He stared at Regina.

Morgan frowned. "What do you mean you're meeting your mother?"

Regina shot a look at Morgan. "There are no secrets in this team!" She stomped down the hall and into the elevator.

Regina sat at the bar, playing with her glass. "Regina?" She spun her head around and faced her parents. She smiled tightly at them and followed them to a table. No hugs were given, nor were any other greetings. "How've you been?"

"Fine..."

"Regina..."

"What?"

"Do you have to act this way?" her father asked.

Regina shrugged. "Act what way?"

"Like a child!"

Regina raised her eyebrows. "Me? I'm the one acting like a child?" She scoffed. "This coming from the man who believed a whole town over his own daughter. His flesh...blood." Regina took the seat across from her parents.

"Grow up a little!"

"Please, both of you!" Regina's mother intervened. "How are you Reggi?"

Regina folded her arms across her chest. "Fine... Please tell me that's not why you wanted to meet me."

"I would have rather done this over the phone but..."

"This isn't the sort of thing you do over the phone."

"Believe me, Dad... I'm with you there!"

"Do you have any idea the kind of shame you've brought on your family?"

"The shame _I've _brought on _you_? That's rich... You know I have to lie to my colleuges about why I don't speak to my parents..."

"Maybe if you acted you're age... and behaved yourself--"

Tears of rage burned in her eyes. "You disowned me! Took other people's word over mine... your family... I'm your daughter... and you sent me abroad to save face." She took a deep breath. "I have a long day tomorrow so if all we're going to be doing to bitching to each other then I'm going." She stood up.

"Regina," he mother began, "that's not why we asked to speak to you. Please, sit back down." Regina did. "Sweetheart... We know that, while you were in England you and Grandma became quite close... We didn't... I don't know... We should have told you sooner and I don't know--"

"Oh for Jesus Christ... Let's get this over with." There was silence. Regina looked from her mother to her father. "Your Grandmother died."

Regina sat still, shocked, as she processed the information. "When?"

"A few months ago."

Regina was outraged. "A few months ago? She died a few months ago and I'm only hearing about it now."

"Lower your voice."

"NO! Have you absolutely no compassion?! She was my grandmother.... She took me in when you disowned me... She was more of a mother to me then you ever will be!"

Regina stopped. Her mother looked hurt. Regina brushed tears away from her face. "She left half of her possesions to you in her will... The other half to Grandpa. Do what you want with them." He mother threw an envelope on the table and left.

Her father stood. "And you say I have no compassion."

"Not one word I said was false." Regina shook.

Her body went numb when her fathers hand made sharp contact with her face. She held her cheek, surprised at his force. "What you did... what you say you were accused of... it broke her heart. Be happy she took your side for as long as she did..." Regina watched him walk away and as her face began to sting, fresh tears formed in her eyes and she sat alone in the bar, crying herself dry.

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Regina sat on the bathroom floor, wet hair clinging to her face, a towel wrapped around her, a copy of her grandmothers will laying on the floor beside her. She had read the words but they never sunk in: a villa in Italy and another in France... and on top of that five hundred thousand dollars... everything appened so fast: the conforontation with her parents, the news, the will. She glanced at the three fresh cuts on her arm and the long scar.

She grabbed her cell phone, needing to talk to someone.

"_Hello?" _Dan sounded sleepy.

"Did I wake you?" Regina voice cracked with sorrow.

"_Kinda... Can I call you in the morning?"_

"Of course... Dan?"

_"Yeah..."_

"I just found out my grandmother died."

There was a moment of silence. _"Reg, that sucks... Listen, I've had a really long day... I need to sleep. Can I call you in tomorrow?"_

Regina paused. "Yeah. Bye." He had already hung up.

She stared at her phone and grabbed the razor blade that was by her side.


	21. Seven Seconds

Regina stared into her coffee, thinking. She had told no one about what had been left to her in her grandmother's will; told no one about the cuts on her arm. She had been keeping busy with work. Now was the only time when she had a moment to take a breath: holding a cup of coffee, waiting for a distraught mother's voice to come on over the intercom, pleading for her daughter's safe return to her.

Hotch came up and stood behind her. "You ok?"

"This is sick."

Hotch nodded. "I hear ya."

"Who'd do something like this?" Hotch glanced over at her. "I mean I know who'd do something like this... but... Do you ever wonder why? I mean I know... broken home... unloved... violence was all they ever knew..." Regina rubbed her eyes. "I don't know... I guess I'm just tired." She sighed and drank her coffee. "Doesn't it make you sick?"

"Yes."

"Right... the kid thing probably makes it worse."

"What happened to your face?" Regina looked up and instinctively reached for where her father's hand had struck her.

"Nothing... It's complicated."

The woman's voice sounded through the intercom, begging for her daughter to be brought back to her.

When she had finished, Hotch turned to Regina. "Why haven't you had any kids, Regina?"

Taken aback, Regina hesitated. "I dunno... I guess I just... I want kids, i just... I'm more fun aunt then cool mom."

"I think you could do it."

"Well, don't hold your breath." She turned away from him and smiled. "Nervous?"

"About what?"

"The infamous David Rossi... I can't wait to meet him."

Hotch glanced at Regina and smiled, glad for the distraction from the thoughts of Jack being taken from him.


	22. About Face

Regina bounded into the BAU bullpen with a basket on her arm. She hopped over to Morgan "Happy Halloween!" She smiled and handed him a warm cupcake with orange icing on top. Morgan eyed her. She jumped over to Emily and Reid, holding two cupcakes in her hand, one with red icing, the other with green. "Happy Halloween!"

Morgan opened his mouth to speak, but Regina was soon up the catwalk and in Hotch's office. She held out a cupcake to him. "Happy Halloween!"

Hotch eyed the cupcake and then looked at Regina. "What's the occasion?" He took the cupcake.

"It's Halloween... and David Rossi is gracing us with his presence this day." Regina smiled and jumped up and down. "I've read 'Master of Murders', like, three times... I mean, ahh!"

"Well, since when do you bake?"

Regina winced. "It's probably best that I don't answer that!"

"Come in," Hotch said after the knock on the door.

Erin Strauss walked in, followed by a man in his fifties. Hotch stood up and smiled. Regina's mouth fell open. She was unsure if it was because Hotch was smiling or because she was standing face to face with David Rossi.

"Oh... my god.... Oh My God! Agent Rossi... It's great to meet you, finally... I've read all your books."

The older man smiled. "Thank you. And you are...?"

Hotch glanced at Strauss. "Uh, Dave, this is SSA Regina Williams... clearly a fan." Hotch looked down at Regina. "Will you tell JJ we're ready for breifing?"

Regina nodded and headed for the door but turned abruptly. "Oh, I almost forgot." She brought out two muffins from her basket and held them out for Rossi and Strauss. "Happy Halloween!"

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

The man Regina idolised was playing Behavioural Analysis by his own rules. Making statements to the press without consulting the rest of the members of the BAU and Hotch was unimpressed.

Regina was reading when Hotch sat next to her. "Everything all right?"

Regina smiled. "Everything's fine. You ok?"

"Yes... I need your opinion of David Rossi."

"Mine... why mine?"

"Because I trust you."

Regina started to feel uneasy. "You shouldn't."

Hotch frowned. "Why?"

"I have it on good authority I can be unreliable."

"Who's said that to you?" Regina remained silent, but stared out the window. "Reg?"

Regina looked up and smiled, biting her lip. "I should take my meds soon... Things have changed... He just needs to readjust."

Hotch nodded and stood. "Um... Nothing could stop me from trusting you."

Regina smiled, but it soon faded as she reached for her medication, which she held in her hand.


	23. Penelope

**PENELOPE**

Regina sat in the diner and fidgeted with the napkin she had been shredding since she arrived fifteen minutes early. She didn't like the thought of what she was going to have to do, but she saw no choice. Her sides still ached when she thought about Dan. There had been plenty of signs but she had ignored them. She straightened up when Dan walked in the door. His grin grew and for a second Regina winced. He looked just like a little boy. When he reached her, he bent low, placed a kiss on her lips and held her hands as he sat.

"You ordered yet?" he asked, grabbing a menu.

Regina was in no mood to eat anything that she didn't know where the products came from. Not after realisation hit that Floyd Feylinn Ferell cooked the women he'd killed and served the end product in his diner. "I'm not going to." Dan was intently reading the menu. "Dan?" He raised an eyebrow. "Dan? We need to talk." She pulled her hand free from his.

"What's wrong?" he frowned.

"I think we need to stop... this." He took a long look at Regina. "Seeing each other."

"Why?"

"You're a great guy. You really are. It's just--"

"Hotchner?"

Regina frowned. "No... No. This has nothing to do with Hotch."

"Then what?"

Regina decided to take the high road with Dan for the quip about Hotch. "Did you ever notice the bruise on my face? Or the scars on my body? When I rang you in the middle of the night and told you my grandmother died, you said you'd call me in the morning. You never called me... not one text, Dan."

"I don't believe this."

"I'm not asking you to... I'm just asking you to accept it." Regina stood and left the diner, and found herself driving to te BAU.

She met JJ in the bullpen and walked over to her friend. "I thought you'd gone home."

"I met Dan."

"Oh," JJ said with a grin forming on her face.

"I ended it."

The smile fell. "He was the first real contender since Hotch... Why'd you end it?"

"JJ... The first time we had sex, the guy was so nervous it was like he was a teenager doing it for the first time... It was awkward. He left bruises on places where there shouldn't be any." There was a short puase before both girls doubled over laughing. Regina looked up, tears threatening to pour out. Gasping for breath she continued, "And he was too serious."

JJ stopped laughing momentarily. "For a fifteen year old." Regina grabbed her sides as the tears came. She swatted JJ on the arm and sat on the desk as Hotch came over. "Hey..." JJ scoffed. "Trying to make me look bad."

Regina wiped her eyes as she giggled with JJ and turned to Hotch.

Regina waited until she was able to put on a serious face without any trouble. "What is it? Strauss busting your ass again?"

"Like a teenager?" JJ added and the two were in fits again, both cringing at the thought of Hotch and Strauss in a very personal relationship.

"Ladies..." Hotch started seriously.

Regina was the first to pull herself together. "What?" The look on Hotch's face sent shivers down her spine. She'd only seen it once before, when she'd found out about Haley. She immediately thought something had happened to Reid or to Morgan. Then the shock came.

"Something's happened... Penelope's been shot."

JJ trembled next to Regina. Regina froze as the words came. "We have to get to the hospital." Then Regina started giggling again, but not as hard as before.

"We have to get to the hospital," Hotch repeated.

"JJ, you don't seriously believe this, do you?" she asked as she felt the shking hand slide into hers. She looked at JJ, both hands at her side. She glanced at the hand in hers and followed it up to Hotch. It was no longer a joke. She immediately knew he was being serious. As Hotch urged Regina out of the bullpen, JJ took charge. "We have to call the rest of the team."

The journey to the hospital was all a blur: she remembered hearing JJ's voice from the backseat repeating what Aaron had told them; she remembered the headlights zooming past, knowing it was because of the speed Hotch was driving. She remembered running with JJ out of the car and into the hospital, standing at the nurses station and not being able to say anything until Aaron arrived beside them, quickly becoming Unit Cheif Hotchner while he spoke to the doctor, immediately becoming Hotch - caring, kind, loving Hotch, who'd do anything for any memeber of his team - as he led the girls into the waiting room. When he came back in, he handed them both a coffee and sat in between them on the couch, ready to be there for whichever woman needed him.

JJ was the first out of shock. "What happened?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"The police say it looked like a robbery."

"Pe-- She was on a date.. She was so excited. How…?" JJ looked at Regina, who was just staring into space. JJ knew what each member of the team meant to her, and after Hotch, Penelope was the most important person in her life. She tapped Hotch. Hotch understood fully what this meant and, wrapping both arms around Regina, leaned back into the couch, rubbing her forehead.

Regina unfroze just enough to ask, "What aren't you telling us?"

Hotch took a deep breath and looked down at the small figure beside him. He stared straight ahead, choosing not to answer the question.

It was not long after that Regina felt the sting. She uncurled her fist as the first sign of an opening came. Her hands were shaking, her leg tapping uncontrollably. She abruptly stood and reached for her bag and began rooting. She cursed silently and threw her bag back down. She turns, noticing Rossi, Reid and Emily approaching them. "Where's Morgan?"

"I can't get through to him."

Hotch and Rossi move to one side. Regina turns to face the window. JJ and Emily try to call Morgan. Reid sits down.

Half an hour passes. Regina, the 'big sister', bites her thumb nail as she digs her other nails into the wood of the window sill.

Forty-five minutes. Emily, the 'cousin', sits next to JJ, 'the youngest sister', and takes her hand.

An hour. Rossi, 'the favourite uncle', takes out a charm bracelet.

Ninety minutes. Reid, 'the youngest', walks up to Rossi and hands him a coffee.

Two hours. Hotch, 'the guardian' walks up to Regina and sits on the sill beside her, taking her cold hand in his two warm ones and rubbing.

Two hours and five minutes. Morgan, 'the big brother', walks into the room, sighs, and sits next to the girls.

Three hours. The small group are still sitting there, waiting for the much loved 'sister' because everyone loves her. Not just Regina, Morgan, JJ, Emily and Reid. But Hotch and Rossi too. Rossi was right when he called her different: she brought brightness to the job. Hotch was right when he told Rossi that 'you have no idea': the colour always brought a smile to the stern bosses face, even if it was a secret smile most of the time.

Three and a half hours later came movement. All heads turned when the doctor walked into the room. "Penelope Garcia."

"Yes." It was a family reply, though it came from one mouth.

"Ms. Garcia will recover completely. Had the path of the bullet been off by even a centimeter, it would have torn through her heart, but she will probably be able to leave the hospital in a few days." The small group of seven very different people was all the same: a sigh of relief; a laugh; and a few steps to walk off the tension. The doctor smiles and leaves the room, satisfied with the reaction.

After a few minutes, Hotch had no choice but to switch back into Unit Chief.

It wasn't until she, Hotch and Dave had walked out of the hospital to see the crime scene tat Regina took any notice of the time of day. The sun was rising.

_

* * *

_

This day sucks!

Regina thought as she, Hotch and Rossi walked to the crime scene. "I think I should have taken my chances at the hospital."

"Isn't that…?" Rossi was about to ask. The young officer looked at Regina, nudged the man beside him and both walked briskly toward them.

"Detectives," Hotch greets.

"Agent Hotchner…" The tall man nods to Rossi and Regina.

Regina avoids all contact with Dan. "If it's alright, I'd like to gather some of my friends belongings."

The older man nodded.

Regina walked around the colourful rooms: the rooms that always managed to fill her with joy when she was in grief. She always sought refuge here. Regina walked down the steps as the tall detective walked Hotch and Rossi through his interpretation of the scene. "The assailant saw the victim enter her home--"

Regina, Hotch and Rossi all took their eyes off the crime scene. "Penelope." The all looked back down.

The detective nodded. "And kicked the door in after… Penelope. He robbed her, she pursued and he shot her."

"Distance?" Rossi asked.

"Approximately fifteen feet. The shooter then took the purse and dumped half of it as he ran." Dan answered. He didn't take his eyes off Hotch.

"Reg," Hotch asked. He pointed to approximately fifteen feet away and stood where Garcia was shot. Regina took out her gun and aimed at Hotch. Hotch copied her.

Regina shook her head. "No. No way I could have made the shot from fifteen feet away while I was running. Not with only one bullet… If that's right, there should be a lot more bullet holes around the place." She holstered her weapon again.

"Could you make the shot?" Rossi asked.

Hotch looked up at Regina. "Maybe. But then again, Reg prefers physical combat to armed."

"Hey, oldie, you wanna test that theory, just ask. I've no problem kicking your ass right here, right now. I got a lot of pent up aggression to let out."

"Well, I don't think you'll need to go to such extreme lengths, Reg," Rossi interjected. "He's got you smiling."

Hotch chuckled. Regina feigned horror. "I feel so used."

She caught a glance at Dan as her cell phone rang. "Williams… Thank god… Ok, I'll tell them. I'll talk to you later. Bye." She slammed her phone shut. "Penelope's awake."

"Thank god," Rossi whispered.

"She had a date last night… James Colby Baylor." Regina tensed up.

"We'll look into him." Hotch walked up to her. "You're on."

Regina took a quick look around the crime scene. Regina stood outside the gate and took out her weapon again. Rossi took Hotch's place. "She believed he was a good guy so… she was stationary. He was stationary. He drew his weapon and took the shot. Firearm was probably a revolver as a countermeasure. No casings. He also took her purse to make it look like robbery." Regina holstered her gun. "She doesn't want to be seen as a victim."

Rossi nods. "No one ever does."

"We have to, Reg."

"You three know her… what can you tell us?"

Hotch smiled. "She's different."

"She wears her individuality as a shield," Rossi continued.

"Could be a reason why they choose her," Regina offered. "The unsub may be a sadist who likes gaining women's trust and then trying to kill them."

"Like Kemper, Bundy and Robert Anderson," Rossi added. "But they never picked an FBI agent."

* * *

The team sat around the table in the kitchenette. JJ leaned her head against Garcia; Emily sat beside them, the men stood around them and Regina held Garcia's hand.

"Is it strange that I got this…thrill out of causing a bullet to go through someone's head?" JJ asked.

"Yes… But you got the thrill that comes with taking out someone who hurt someone you care about," Rossi answered.

"You know at least some good thing came out this."

"What good could possibly come out of my being shot?" Garcia asked.

"We all have a new respect for each other?" Emily tried.

"That too."

The team thought. JJ looked up. "You got over the first awkward meeting after the dumping of the teen?" JJ asked.

Regina nodded and looked at JJ. Both girls were where they were five nights ago when the whole story started: doubled over in uncontrollable fits of laughter. Much to the curiosity of the other six members.

"JJ, I can never go home again." JJ shook her head. "He's right across the street. Right across it."

Rossi raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to assume that this has something to do with why Dan looked like he'd be more then happy to be the one pointing the gun at Hotch the other day."

JJ bent her head, trying to suppress the giggles. "Seriously… He's up when I see him in the mornings."

"I didn't realise he could do that," JJ giggled.

"I'll never look at him the same way again…Ugh… It's 'bye, bye Friend Dan, Hello teen' isn't it?"

Quietly, the team let the girls control themselves and moved onto a more happier subject.

**AN: I'm pretty happy with this chapter. Reviews are loved :D**


	24. Damaged

**Damaged**

Regina looked up at the office. Part of her hoped that Hotch would ask her to come to Connecticut but she knew it wasn't going to happen. She slowly stood up and walked into the office. "Hi."

"Hi," Hotch replied. Regina stood in the door and watched him as he packed files into his bag. He seemed a million miles away but Regina had to bite the bullet before he found out second hand. "Hotch. They'll find a dip in my drug analysis." She waited for the eruption.

Hotch stared at her. "What?" Regina began to explain but Hotch silenced her. "What kind of dip?"

"A while back… I…" She took a deep breath. "I was taking my meds. Just a little more then was prescribed."

"How much?" Hotch asked through his teeth.

"Enough to up my spirits… not enough to do any harm."

"For how long?"

"A few weeks."

"Do you have any idea what kind of damage you could have done to yourself…"

"I know…"

"I don't have time for this."

Regina watched as he bounded down the steps. She sighed, realising that disappointment was always the worst form of punishment.

* * *

Regina picked at her nails, as Garcia worked beside her. "I still can't believe Hotch and Haley are getting a divorce." Garcia glanced over. "Why are you here?"

"I had a prior engagement and I didn't want to leave without Hotch's ok."

"How are you holding up with the whole Aaron and Haley fiasco?"

"Do you love him?" Regina asked, blowing a bubble with her gum.

Garcia frowned. "Aaron?"

"Kevin?"

"We've only been going out for a while… I wouldn't say love… I enjoy being with him."

Regina laughed quickly. "Ha, Rossi walked in on you as you were about to get freaky….JJ told. Still, shower sex is a very big deal…"

Garcia swatted her. "Stop avoiding the subject."

"I'm not avoiding anything."

"God, I hate profilers." Garcia watched as her friend grabbed a strand of hair and began plaiting it. "What are you doing here?"

"I told you…"

"I meant, what prior engagement?"

Regina didn't hesitate. "Psych eval."

Garcia's eyes widened. "What? Why?" Regina dropped her hair. "What's wrong?"

"I'm bipolar…" Regina stared at her friend. "Reid and Hotch are the only ones that know… As for the whole Haley and Hotch thing: all I want to do is grab my chance and run with it… And pray to god I don't get trampled on again… But I can't… This son-of-a-bitch condition means I can't take that chance…"

"Why didn't you ever say this?"

Regina smiled. "I have to head downstairs… We'll finish this later."

* * *

Regina sat, tense in the seat in front of the department shrink. She watched the Doctor as she wrote and wished this was all over.

"So… let's take a break from your family." She flicked through her notes. "Last time I saw you, you mentioned you were in a relationship." The doctor smiled.

Regina smiled back, politely. "Was. That has since ended."

"Ah," she replied. "Well, we should save that for next time. What about something before Dan? Some meaningful relationship. We've barely touched on that?"

"Well, we can talk about my high school boyfriend if you want… The one I tried to kill myself over."

"I'd rather not right now."

"We're talking about him now and look…" Regina indicated around the room. "…no glass."

"What about the relationship you had just before Dan?"

Regina shook her head. "There was no one exc--" Regina closed her eyes, remembering where she was: In a Federal psychiatrists office.

"Regina… Chief Strauss or anyone else doesn't find out what happened in this room unless you say otherwise. "

"There was someone… The one person who keeps me sane."

"Keeps? You're still in contact with him." Regina nodded

"I had a… brief, meaningful relationship with SSA Hotchner." It poured out naturally. The psychiatrist made no judgement: she just sat there. Regina closed her eyes. "It was my first field case… I'd had a huge crush on him since I met him…" Regina began playing with a seam of her dress that was loose. "I was having a tough night, and he made it go away. For the whole night, nothing else mattered. Just us. And every night, for the next two months, it was the exact same. I loved him from the moment his lips touched mine. And I still do." Regina bit back some tears. "I was heartbroken when he told me about his wife. I was temporarily transferred to CSU. When I returned it was awkward but we salvaged a friendship… He told me that he still loved me… When I hurt myself, he stayed with me… When I needed him most… He was right there. He took care of me no matter who was watching and he still does."

"Have you ever suffered an episode because of him?"

Regina shook her head. "No… I mean, I love him… So much… More than anything in this world, but… Maybe I couldn't put him through that." Regina smiled. "It wouldn't matter… Aaron would get through… He's… He's strong. The strongest man I've ever met. He's strong enough that in the darkest times, he's somehow managed to make me smile…"


	25. In Heat

**In Heat**

The team piled out of the cars: Regina, Reid, Emily and JJ from one car; Hotch, Morgan and Rossi from another.

Regina looked at Hotch. "How can he ware a suit in this weather?"

The grouped as a couple of women walked past.

"Is it always so hot?" Reid asked, puling at his tie.

"Every damn day," Morgan replied, watching the women walk away.

"It's Miami," Rossi agreed, following the girls.

Regina grimaced. "That's why I'll only go out with you two if any of these three are with me." She pointed to Hotch, Reid and Emily.

Rossi smiled. "You look really good in that top, Reg."

"Yeah."

"Ugh!" Regina shivered.

Hotch scowled. "Can we focus please?" A young Latino woman approached followed by a very familiar face.

Regina turned to JJ. "Detective LaMontagne!"

"You all know each other?" the Latino detective asked.

"We worked a case together last year," Hotch offered.

"I'm here to identify a body," Will explained.

* * *

Regina was so grateful when Hotch suggested she and JJ go outside. The cool breeze was a big help.

She drank half the bottle of iced water before JJ finished it off. "God…" Regina looked at JJ. "The weather isn't the only thing that's hot."

"What you talking about?" Hotch and Will were coming into sight. Regina and JJ began the trek up to them.

"LaMontagne… He's pretty fine." JJ nodded. "C'mon, Jage… When are you going to admit that there is definitely something going on between the two of you?"

JJ turned on her friend. "When are you going to admit that the idea of seeing Hotch is the only reason you get up in the morning?" Regina stood stunned. "Yeah… That's exactly what I thought. You don't have the strength to… well neither do I." JJ walked away, leaving Regina staring after her.

* * *

Regina smiled as Emily, Reid and Morgan walked away. She couldn't tear her eyes away from JJ, who had every reason to be scared of the relationship with LaMontagne: they lived in different states; both jobs were demanding.

If JJ could admit she loved a man in a completely different state to her, Regina could admit to the man that she loved how she felt.

She moved in the direction where Hotch was.

She walked up to him. "Hey."

"Hi."

"I have to tell you something…"

"So do I." Regina allowed him to speak first. "I got a call from your shrink. She's lowering your dosage of meds." Regina sighed. Hotch sat on the edge of the table. "You wanted to say something?"

Regina stared at him. "Sorry, um… JJ was right, I don't have the strength to."

Hotch flicked something off of her shoulder. "Well, they say bipolar isn't curable, you can only subdue it… I think you're beating it."

Regina smiled. "This isn't the place… It can wait."


	26. Tabula Rasa

**Tabula Rasa**

Regina looked up to Hotch's office. He was standing by his desk on the phone.

"Reg?" Regina looked over to where Garcia stood talking to Reid and Emily. Regina smiled and walked over to them. Regina gasped at the picture Garcia was holding.

Garcia nodded. "I know."

"It's remarkable," Reid stated. "Makes you question everything you thought to be true."

Regina agreed. "Like the the monolith in '01."

Emily looked over at them, then returned to work. So there was actually a time when something like this was socially acceptable?" Reid asked.

"The eighties' left a lot pf people confused," Garica answered.

"This is especially sad, though," Regina announced as Garcia showed the picture to Emily, who just stared at Goth Emily in the picture. Emily snatched it off Garcia.

"Ok, what did you do?" Emily asked. "Photoshop? What?"

"I didn't do a thing. Hacked it as is."

"Perhaps your lack of recognition stems from a dissociative fugue suffered in adolescence," Reid offered.

Regina nodded, trying to suppress a smile. "Say at a Siouxsie and the Banshees concert?" Reid and Garcia laughed. Hotch joined the small group. "What was that about?"

"Brian Matloff."

"Who?" Emily asked, stuffing the photo into a drawer.

"AKA the Blue Ridge Strangler."

"That was like four years ago, right?" Regina asked. "Three vics in the Blue Ridge Parkway." Hotch nodded.

"Allegedly, he was never convicted," Reid explained. " He slipped into a coma before he could be tried."

"And now he's woken up. Will you three pull all the files we have on the case. Reg, I want you to come to Roanoke with me. You're unfamiliar with the case. A fresh pair of eyes might catch something we've missed."

Hotch walked out. Regina got ready to go and meet Hotch outside. Garcia walked out up behind her. "So what''s with all the googly eyes?"

"I gotta go. What googely eyes?"

"The ones you're throwing Hotch."

"I'm not throwing anything at Hotch."

"I thought you were over him."

"I was."

"Emphasis on 'was'. Are you into him again?" Regina choose to answer that question with silence. "Are you going to go for it now that Haley's left?"

Regina shook her head. "No. I'm happy with the way things are. I gotta go." Regina smiled and left.

* * *

Hotch and Regina didn't speak for a while until they got on to Russell Road: Hotch was focusing on the road and Regina on the case. Regina looked up. "So why did you want me to come? And don't say fresh eyes," Regina told him, as she rolled down her window, "I know you." Hotch looked over at her, a smile on his face. "Who's the prosecutor?"

"The lead is CeCe Hillenbrand."

Regina froze at the familiar name. She closed the case file. "Ok, at least I know you do answer questions... Why am I coming?"

"I'm... It's come to my attention that, should I be unable to lead this team anymore, it'll come down to you or Morgan. I think you have a better chance at dealing with the bureaucracy, the politics and the public. Morgan has seniority." Regina was stunned and Hotch saw this. "When... when Gideon and I were discussing your future at the BAU, we agreed that the main reason why you should not leave was because of your potential. You've got as much and more as Morgan... I just need to teach you how to use it." Regina smiled in spite of the situation.

* * *

CeCe Hillenbrand got off her phone when Hotch and Regina walked in.

Hotch smiled. "CeCe. How are you?"

"Good." She barely glanced at Regina. Regina looked at Hotch.

"This is a colleague of mine. Regina Williams."

"Agent." She looked at Regina, eyeing her up and down. She frowned. "Have we met?"

Regina smiled tightly. "Not to my knowledge."

Hotch tensed up, curious. Analyzing Regina's beahaviour, he knew he had to intervene. "What's the plan?"

CeCe looked at him. "Plan? Try him and fry him." She led them down the hall: Regina bringing up the back. "The indictment is still alive. I want you on board to testify," she said to Hotch.

"Sure, whatever I can do," he replied. "But four years is a long time. The indictment won't be intact but the case won't be. People move on, evidence degrades."

"Right," CeCe said, leaning into him as they walked. "I forgot you used to be a prosecutor."

"And I got burned plenty of times when time changed the fabric of a case."

Regina hurried up to him. "You got burned?" The look on her face was feigned lack of respect.

Hotch tried not to smile at her. "You'd be surprised."

The Doctor walked up to the group as they approached. "Mr. Matloff is suffering from memory loss."

"He doesn't remember the murders?" Regina asked.

"Convenient," CeCe sighed.

* * *

Regina kept her head down on the drive to the DA's office where they were meeting Rossi. Hotch said nothing.

They met Rossi outside the office's and walked with them. He smirked, immediately noticing Regina's demeanor.

"Oh," CeCe said. "By the way, I asked an out of town prosecutor to help out."

"Why?" Regina asked.

"Same reason you're here. New set of eyes."

"Is he good?" Hotch asked.

"Almost as good as you were."

She walked into the office. "Conor, you made it," CeCe greeted to a tall, grey haired, middle aged man. "These are members of the FBI's Be--"

"Behavioural Analysis Unit... Regina."

Regina sighed as Hotch and Rossi threw her looks. "Ah..." She turned to CeCe. " 'And everywhere that Mary went that sheep was sure to go.' Hello, Father. How are you this beautiful day?" The man shook his head. "Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner and SSA David Rossi. Who I'm sure you know, considering-" She turned to her two male colleagues. "- I don't hate to admit this-" She turned back to her father. "-I had a huge crush on him when I was a kid. Any father would know that." She gave everyone a huge grin. The silence in the room was broken by Hillenbrand's cell phone.

Rossi looked around the room. "So you're Regina's father."

Regina rolled her eyes as she and Hotch began unpacking. Hotch moved close to her. "What's going on between you and your father?"

"We don't get along," Regina whispered.

"Why not?"

"We just don't."

"Does he know about the..?" Hotch made cutting gestures.

Regina shook her head. "No."

Hotch didn't ask any more questions for a while. "You had a crush on Rossi?" He smiled

"He was a founder of the BAU and I had a facsination with serial killers."

CeCe walked back into the room. "Our witness died."

"Od?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"I remember the guy had an addiction to heroine."

"The main witness was a junkie?" Regina asked.

"He saw Matloff with Darci Corbett." Regina nodded.

CeCe sighed. "Everything else is circumstantial."

"I could name a dozen killers we got convicted with less."

Conor Williams joined the group. Hotch glanced down at Regina when he felt her tense up beside him. "You're not the one arguing a rail thin case in front of the 23rd circuit."

"Neither are you." She nodded at CeCe. "You're little friend is."

"The rocket docket," Hotch said quietly.

"Gives me half the time to prepare." CeCe took the seat which Conor had been occupying.

"I'm sure Agent Hotchner wouldn't mind helping us prep," Conor said.

"Not at all," Hotch replied with a polite smile.

"I'll go over the case with our team," Rossi offered.

"And I'm staying here," Regina stated, dismayed.

"Maybe it's a good thing the witness fell through... Probably wouldn't have helped us."

"No... I mean, now the court has to judge him based on hear say. But then, if it's good enough to judge me then it's good enough to judge a serial killer." Regina turned and finished empting the boxes.

* * *

Hotch glanced up. Regina had gone to get them both coffees. When she had come back, they had barely said hello to each other, but the tension was unbearable. When he looked up he was surprised: Regina was wearing glasses.

"You're... wearing glasses."

Regina looked up. "Yeah... I've been wearing contacts for a while." She took off the glasses. "You were working this case."

"Yeah."

"...when you agreed to let me work at the BAU."

**Quantico, VA, 2004**

Regina Williams walked into the BAU, hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, wearing a black suit and minimal makeup. She noticed a group of men standing a round. The black man hit the younger man across the head. "Gomez! Gomez! You said her name was Gomez!"

"I thought it was... You're the one who called her baby girl."

Regina noticed the older man and immediately recognised him to be Aaron Hotchner. How could she not: she had fallen in love with this man when he was teaching her about crisis negotiation in the Acadamy. She walked up to them. "Excuse me." The three men looked up. The young one smiled, the black man eyed her curiously and Hotchner just stared. "Agent Hotchner?" She held out her hand to shake. "I'm Regina Williams." She took back her hand. "We have a meeting."

"Right, yes of course." He turned to his colleagues. "Can you take care of the case?" He led Regina up to the landing where his office was and gestured her inside. He took a seat behind the desk and stared as she looked around the office. "There was something about her that struck him. "Have a seat. So what can I do for you?"

"I was hoping you'd reviewed my application."

Hotch had and he was impressed. She graduated top of the class and had bee working in Boston PD for five years. He had spoken to Gideon who agreed that she would be an asset to them. "Forensics was your first port. Why do you suddenly want to profile serial killers?"

"With Forensics... I figure out the who and the how... The why can be questionable. When a killer says that they did it because an innocent person deserved it or that they did it for pure pleasure, all I want to know is what's going on in their head... And I have this fascination with serial killers."

**

* * *

**

Present Day

"How about I buy you guys a victory drink?" CeCe asked. They had won the case.

"We have a long drive ahead of us," Regina answered.

CeCe walked out. Hotch looked at Regina. "Why don't you like CeCe?"

"It's a long story."

"Well, like you said, we have a long drive."

Regina turned to him. "When I was in my final year - I spent it in England - there was this woman working with my dad in Boston. Her name was CeCe Hillenbrand, and there was a rumour going around that he was screwing her."

Hotch paused. "Is that why you hate your father?"

"Hotch... There is something you don't know about me..." She turned to him. "Look, my dad and I weren't really close. So when rumours went out that I was a sixteen year old going around, screwing an older, married man, my parents sent me off to England to live with my grandparents..."

Hotch was about to say something when Conor walked in. "May I borrow my daughter for a second, Agent Hotchner?"

Hotch nodded and left them alone. "So..."

"Congratulations... Profiling really does work."

"Go to hell." Regina was surprised by the tone of her voice.

"The rumour was nothing compared to yours..."

"You have no fucking clue, do you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"We were having sex. It was just never consensual on my part... He raped me."


	27. LoFi

**Lo Fi**

Regina looked at her parents, sitting at the table across from her. "Ok... Talk." Her mother had been silent since she arrived.

"When he was supposed to be tutoring me, he was raping me... What else is there to say?"

"So, what, we just sit her in silence?" Connor asked.

Regina shrugged and folded her arms. She took this time to take in her parents. Her father looked the same as ever with a few wrinkles added into the mix. She thought of when she was younger and he used to pick her up in his arms like she was still a baby and spin her around the room, until they both collapsed in a bundle on the floor, then he'd start tickling her and she would laugh until she couldn't breathe. He was a tall, strong man and Regina used to worship him. He was her best friend until the rumours had started about her sleeping around with a married man. Then it was his idea to send her off to England. She'd cried for days and hated him ever since for not believing her. She still hated him.

Her mother had definitely changed. She looked older. More wrinkles on her face then on Connor's but she still had an elegance about her. Regina thought she looked so beautiful when she was a child. Regina looked from one parent to the other and noticed the distance that was between the two. "Is--?" She didn't finish her sentence. She reached into her jacket. "Excuse me." She flipped open her phone. "Williams... We've finally been called?.. Ok, I'll see you soon. Bye." Regina looked at her parents. "I have to go."

"Reggi..." Regina looked at her mother. "Be careful."

Regina walked into the conference room and found Hotch standing in front of the monitor. "I came here as fast as I could." Hotch pulled up a clip. "Is there a new victim?" she asked as the rest of the team filed into the room.

"It's been two weeks, and now they call us in?" Rossi asked, sitting on the table.

"Five murders in two weeks, NY's desperate."

The room was quiet. "It's Son of Sam all over again," Reid said, voicing the thoughts of all his colleagues.

When the plane took of, Regina grabbed the seat across from JJ. "So how's… everything?" she gushed.

JJ gave her a bored look. "If you keep asking me that, everything won't be ok with you.""I'm just asking…"

JJ closed the case file. "You haven't told anyone, have you?"

"Of course not… It's not my place.""It's fine."

Regina smiled. "Good. And are you ok?"

"Yes, it's all fine."

Walking into the New York Field office bull pen was strange. What was even stranger was seeing Hotch smile as the pretty blonde walked toward them.

"Aaron. How've you been?" Regina took a long look at Hotch when the British agent spoke.

"Well, thank you. Uh, these are Agents Derek Morgan--" Morgan just stared. "--Regina Williams--" Regina glared. "--David Rossi, Spencer Reid--" Reid waved. "--Jennifer Jareau, Emily Prentiss, and Penelope Garcia. This is Kate Joyner."

"Huh," Regina said audibly, looking around. Everyone's eyes fell on her. "It-- I've just never met a British Federal Agent. Surprising, that's all. " She looked quickly at Hotch. "Cute, even."

Regina sat next to Morgan and both were pretending not to watch Hotch speaking to Kate. "Did you see the look she was giving me?" Morgan asked.

Regina swung on her chair. "I was more concerned with the looks they were giving each other." Regina threw a peanut into her mouth. " 'Aaron'--" she said in a fake British accent. "--How've you been?'" She faked a giggle. "God I wanna wring her neck." Morgan smiled and put his fist out. Regina hit hers off his and they both turned them, smiling. "I really hate this chick."

"Hey, Morgan," Rossi called. "You coming?"

Morgan turned to Regina. "Get the low-down from Hotch?" he asked.

"Ugh! This should be fun."

Regina sighed as she walked into the office carrying three coffees and a triple chocolate muffin from a very nice old man across the street whom she was sure was sweet on her. She handed Hotch his coffee in his hand and plopped another one in front of Joyner. "Got anything yet?" She directed the question at Hotch but Joyner answered.

"Nothing yet."

Regina glared and walked out of the room. Hotch followed her out. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not a coffee-dog. It's not my job to grab a coffee." Regina inhaled. "Did you sleep with her?"

Hotch stared at her. "What? How is that your business?"

"Did you?"

Hotch chuckled. "No... Why?" Hotch let his smile drop. "Would it bother you if I had?" The team walked in. He smiled and walked away.

JJ took his place next to Regina. "Hey."

Regina took a sip of her coffee. "Hi."

"I'm sorry for calling you weak."

"I'm sorry that we've been fighting."

"So have you told him yet?" Regina stared. "Reg!"

"I'll tell him… I just haven't gotten around to it yet."

JJ smiled. "Ok… I have to tell you something."

Regina walked back into the bullpen in shock. JJ was pregnant. Pregnant. With a child. She was still stunned two days later. Hotch walked up to her as he pulled on his jacket waiting for Kate.

"I need to ask you something."

"Shoot. Make it quick… I'm going for a coffee with Dave."

"You and this, uh, older guy you told me about… Was he the only older guy?"

Regina looked up at him. "You mean aside from you? 'Now, how is that any of your business?"' she asked mimicking him

"Did you really sleep with him?"

"Did you sleep with Kate?" Regina was enjoying this.

"You first…"

"Yes."

Hotch nodded as Dave walked up to them. "No." He walked away from them.

Regina looked down, ashamed. She knew she should have said no but why she didn't, she didn't know. "You ready?"

Reg smiled. "Yeah."


	28. Mayhem

**Whoo Season 4!!!!**

"_Love is like war; easy to begin but very hard to stop."_

_ -Henry Louis Mencken_

Regina finished the bag of crisps as Rossi came back into the car, closing his wallet. Rossi smiled at her. At the start, they hadn't been too close to each other, but as time went on and they spent more and more time together, Regina had begun to see Dave in a new light. It was strange but, inappropriate jokes aside, after spending time with him, she began to value him more than her own father. He looked at her. "What's up kiddo?"

Regina shook her head. "Nothing."

As Rossi switched on the ignition, the radio came on, announcing a bomb had gone off two blocks east of federal plaza. Rossi and Regina looked at each other and without a word, Rossi sped to the NYPD Command Centre.

* * *

Regina rummaged through her bag, looking for the file. She could have sworn that she had put the file into her bag before she left. She sighed. They had all gone through twenty four hours of hell. Hotch had sustained a serious injury, a fed had died, and Morgan nearly died.

She heard someone calling her name and turned to face a smiling Morgan. She walked over to him and gave him a hug.

"Glad you're ok, man."

"Me too."

"When did you get back?"

"Just now, and I will be very happy when I get a few beers down me. Oh, uh, someone's upstairs looking for you."

"Nice… Where's Hotch?"

"Where do you think?" Morgan shook his head. "Can you convince him to come out for one beer?" He held up his index finger."Where's everyone else?"

"At the bar."

Regina smiled and nodded slowly. "I'll see what I can do." Waiting for the elevator to arrive on the sixth floor, Regina decided that she was going to give Hotch an offer much better then beer.

She walked into the bullpen. And stopped in her tracks. Her father was sitting at her desk. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you… You left the other day rather quickly. How'd you get on?"

"Ok…" Regina walked forward. "You're getting a divorce aren't you?"

Her father looked at her. "How'd you figure it out?"

"Profiling… Did you tell her? About… the… the rape?"

"She doesn't need to know, does she?" Regina shook her head. "Do you want to have dinner?"

"I'm busy tonight."

"During the week then… I'm leaving next weekend."

"We'll see. I have to speak to my boss."

Connor put a card on her desk. "You can give me a call."

Regina waited for him to leave. She stood before the steps, mentally and emotionally preparing herself for what she was about to do. Her hands were shacking as she went to knock. Whether it was current fear or past fear, she didn't know. She went to knock but stopped. Hotch wasn't alone in the office. Haley was in there.

"Oh. You're single, she's single. You're screwing her aren't you?" Regina frowned.

Hotch replied quietly. "No, I'm not… Believe it or not, I don't need sex to occupy my time."

"But it helps."

"You're being silly. Regina and I aren't together. We never will be."


	29. Lunch at Salvatore's

_You're supposed to trust friends. You have no reason to be his friend? That is part of the pleasure of friendship: trusting without absolute evidence and then being rewarded for that trust. _

_-David Shore_

Regina felt strange walking into such an expensive restaurant. Not that she felt strange dining there. Just that Salvatore's was known for it's expense in Quantico. It was where the higher ups ate for lunch or meetings. She didn't mind coming here, maybe if it were a gift or an on the house type thing. Or if she were spending her own money. But she wasn't. She still saw that money as her grandmother's. She had this knot in her stomach just thinking that she was going to be spending the money in a place like this. But it wasn't her choice. It was her best friend's. The only friend that kept in contact with her after the rumours went out. Gloria had asked if Regina would come to dinner with her, her husband and her husband's friend: both were people she went to school with; one she had punched a mirror for. She wasn't sure if having lunch with him was a good idea, but, after realising she and Hotch never had a chance, she decided it was time for a change. He had said to her once that she was beating her condition and she figured that the final step would be overcoming her fear. She felt weird with what she was wearing. A black v-neck and a black skirt. She had been told once that black made her look sexy and, she decided, she had to grow up if she was going to get over Aaron Hotchner for good this time. But going all out for Eric was ridiculous, she didn't know why. Yes she did. The statement had been echoing in her head since Gloria had told her. "_They're not getting married. He called it off. Said he couldn't go through with the marriage._" She swore to herself that having lunch with Eric meant nothing, it was just a simple way to forget about her job and the darkness she saw. So, for the fiftth time since entering Salvatore's, she readjusted her earrings and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

As she followed the maitre'd, her friend came into view and she smiled to herself when suddenly she heard a "Reg" from behind her. She turned to look and was shocked. She had called JJ last week to see if she wanted to go to lunch sometime this week while they had time off and JJ said she was too busy. _My ass. _Here, in Salvatore's of all places, JJ sat at lunch. With Hotch. She walked with the older man to her old friends, smiled a quick hello and hurried over to her colleagues.

"What are you doing in a place like Salvatore's dressed like…" JJ moved her hand to her friend's outfit. "…that?"

"Ok… hi… No way either one of you can afford Salvatore's."

"And you can?" Hotch asked, smirking.

"That's not the point. "

"These guys owed Dave a favour, Dave owed me a favour… I called Salvatore's ."

"Rossi can afford a place like this?"

JJ dug her knife and fork into a steak. "Apparently so." Regina smiled. JJ's plate had a lot of food on it..

"So you can come to a place like Salvatore's with him and you won't come for lunch with me?"

"We're working. We have to pick my replacement."

Regina's face fell. She forgot that this baby meant that JJ wouldn't be with the team for a few months. "I don't want you to go."

JJ frowned. "But I'll have a baby."

"But you'll be gone."

"For a few months… But I'll have a baby." Regina smiled and shook her head.

"I should get going."

"Whoa…" Hotch stopped her. "What are you doing in a place like Salvatore's?"

Regina smiled innocently. "Meeting old friends." She winked. "Call me if you need me."

* * *

Sitting by her old friends, part of her was glad that Hotch and JJ were here. If she needed to, she could quickly escape to their table.

Sitting next to Eric again seemed surreal. Not too surreal. Surreal enough that she still got that tingle in her stomach… that teenage infatuation. Not so surreal that she couldn't keep her head. Things started pretty badly, awkwardness and what not, but eventually the ice melted and everyone began talking like old friends again. Regina was surprised when the hour passed. She did occasionally wish she was at a different table but she quickly brushed off that feeling and began enjoying herself. Soon they paid and walked outside.

"I actually didn't think I'd enjoy myself," she admitted as they got ready to part.

"I'm a woman of many talents, Reg," Gloria stated and laughed.

"Reg!" Regina turned around and JJ and Hotch were exiting the restaurant. "Great minds think alike! Hotch just said, "Let's call it a day." Oh my god."

Regina feigned amazement. "These are old school friends of mine, Gloria, Kevin and Eric," she introduced, throwing a quick glance at Hotch. "Guys, these are my friends: Aaron Hotchner, Unit Chief of the BAU, and Jennifer Jareau, Communications Liaison. And mother to be." JJ grinned.

"Wow," Gloria exclaimed. "Congratulations to both of you."

JJ's eyes grew wide. "NO!" She looked around. "Hotch isn't the father. God, no. I'd never do that." She turned to Hotch. "No offence… Just…" She turned to Regina. "You know what I mean." Regina nodded. "Oh, I don't feel so well."

"I think you need to get home." JJ nodded. "It was great seeing you guys again."

"I'll get the car," he said to JJ. JJ, mortified, just nodded.

Regina gave each of her friends a hug, but hesitated at Eric. He smiled and shook her hand. "Keep in touch, Reg."

Regina nodded.

Soon it was just her and JJ.

"I'm so, so sorry. I think I've had too much food."

Regina smiled. "It's fine."

"I was surprised that Hotch asked me to Salvatore's… I thought that would be the type of thing he saved for you."

"I'm not going to say anything to him. But, I will move on." Hotch pulled up beside them. She stuck her head in the window. "Can I get a lift?""Yeah."

* * *

"Ugh, my feet are killing me," Regina complained after walking six flights of stairs to the bullpen as Hotch couldn't ride the elevator. Not getting the expected hooker boots comment from JJ, she turned. "JJ!"

JJ was leaning against a wall in the kitchenette, looking pale. Hotch and Regina hurried over to her and led her to a chair. Tears were in her eyes. "I'm having a baby."

Hotch and Regina smiled. Regina nodded. "Yeah y'are."

JJ tried to laugh. "But… we were making fun of Dan a few months ago."

"Yeah, we were."

"When did everything change?"

Hotch and Regina glanced at each other, not knowing the answer.

Things had changed. When? Was it when Garcia was shot? When Rossi joined the team? When Gideon left? When Reid was abused? When JJ met Will? When Morgan's secret got out? When Emily mysteriously joined the team? When Elle left? When Regina had her biggest bipolar episode? When Hotch had a son?

Unbeknownst to the mother to be and the two agents trying to comfort her, things were about to get a whole lot different.


	30. The Angel Maker

**The Angel Maker**

Regina was collecting her things together in te BAU bullpen, preparing for the ride to Lower Caanan where a dead man's DNA was found inside a latest victim. She, Rossi and Hotch were driving to the airport and meeting the others. First, Rossi was making sure Hotch was going to be ok to come back.

"Regina." Regina turned quickly. Eric was standing at the doors, smiling. She smiled back as she pulled her bag onto her shoulder. "Hi. Are you busy?"

"I'm flying out... What are you doing here?" She walked up to him

"I'm leaving in a few days, but... ah... see... It was good seeing you again, Reg." Regina smiled, but looked away. "I'm coming back in a few weeks... Permanently. And... Can I call you?"

Regina was speechless. "Eric--" Hotch and Rossi came out of their respective offices. "I have-- I have to go... to work." She followed the men out the door after they awknowledged the man.

* * *

They met the team on the plane. As soon as they were in the air, Morgan began his interrogation. "Hotch, you are cleared to fly, right?"

Regina slapped him across the head. "What is your problem?"

Morgan stared at her. "What?"

"You!"

"What?"

"You always do this."

"Do what?"

"This... When Gideon came back: you questioned his ability; when Elle came back: you questioned; when Reid came back: questioned; Rossi: questioned; Garcia--"

"Questioned," JJ smiled up, hand on her bump.

The team smiled. Regina thanked her. "I'm a concerned colleague," Morgan defended.

"Say anything to me and I'm gonna smack you."

"You just did."

Regina scowled at him. Hotch had never felt so happy to be back.

* * *

Regina was looking out the window of the hotel lobby when Hotch sat next to her. She was deep in thought and he knew it, and so stayed quiet.

She looked at him and smiled. "It's creepy."

"What?"

"What she was willing to do for him." She began scrutinizing her nails. "Do you think I'm ok Hotch?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you think I could... hurt myself again?"

Hotch shook his head, unsure. "No one can be sure what they are capable of.'' He fidgeted with his hands, both quiet. He shook his head. "Personally, I don't think you will. But if you ever have any doubts... I'm right here. Day and night."

Regina smiled. "Nothing better to do?"

He looked uncertain. "A lot of free time."

She stood up and patted his shoulder. "Thanks."

* * *

Regina sat at her desk, staring absently into space until she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Garcia. "You coming out?"

"No..." She looked past her friend. "I'm meeting someone." Garcia followed her gaze, nodded and left.

"Hi..." Eric said, cautiously.

"Hi." Regina gestured to the seat next to her. "Have a seat."

"You sounded strange on the phone."

"Yeah... Listen... When I found out about you and the engagement... I got really depressed... My boss moved in with me for a few days... and uh, when he left me on my own for a bit, I hit a mirror and nearly died. I haven't had an episode since... Eric, I need you to... I don't know if I can love you as much as I used to."

Eric stared at the ground. "I took the job for you... I took the job because she wasn't you and you were all I wanted. I understand if you don't want to see me again, but I don't know if I can live not seeing you."


	31. Minimal Loss

**Minimal Loss**

Hotch watched her as she walked into the kitchenette, barely listening to the conversation around him. She always had a hold over him first thing in the morning. He stared at the coffee machine, begging it to go faster.

"Hey, hoe," Morgan greeted.

"Hey, ass-face," she replied, smiling. "Morning, agents."

"Someone's in a good mood this morning," Rossi observed.

Regina just shrugged. "Where're Emily and Reid?"

"Working undercover at that Ranch where we got the call from yesterday. Remember?" JJ replied. "Hurt you weren't invited?"

"I think Emily and Reid need some alone time," she answered, suggestively.

She walked over to the coffee machine where Hotch had finally gotten his first cup of coffee of the day. He smiled at her before taking a sip of the hot beverage. He inhaled as she stood next to him, hoping to get a scent from her. He chocked on his coffee: what he got wasn't perfume, or shower gel, or shampoo. It was cologne.

"You good?" Rossi asked, smirking. Hotch nodded.

Regina turned to greet Garcia as she walked in. As she walked closer, her smile faltered and she stared. "Is that real?" Garcia asked, pointing.

Regina looked down at her chest. "Yes, _they _are."

"Not those… About three inches up."

Regina pulled at the chain around her neck and the small diamond on the pendent and smiled tightly. JJ stood up abruptly and pulled Regina out of the bullpen following Garcia.

Hotch had already done the math: expensive jewellery + cologne = Regina William's existent love life.

* * *

Since settling down to work, Morgan had been bothering her about her love life. "Who is he?"

"You don't know him."

"You'd be surprised with who I know."

Regina straightened the pages and closed the file and stood, smiling to herself. Last night had been the first night in a long time that she had felt relaxed. Eric had been sweet, taking her to an expensive restaurant, giving her the expensive gift. When they went back to her place, he went slow. She knew things would be different this time.

She knocked on Hotch's door. "Yes."

She walked in and handed him the file. "Here you go."

"Thank you… Regina?" She turned to him. He looked at his desk. "Is he… It's just when you asked me about… Is it the same guy?"

Regina blushed. "Yes… But he's different."

"Engaged?"

"Not anymore."

They both turned their heads when Morgan called and both rushed out and met Rossi on the landing. Everyone was staring at the TV which was showing a news clip of a police raid in La Plata county.

"That's where Reid and Emily?" Regina asked.

Hotch nodded. Regina looked around as the phones began ringing. "Alright, we're going to working lead on this, with Hostage and Rescue…" Hotch looked directly at Morgan and JJ. "No time to prepare… We're leaving right now."

* * *

Regina joined Hotch and Rossi outside the command centre with computers in hand. "What's happening?" she asked, pushing her sunglasses up off her eyes.

A man stormed out of the command centre. The three agents looked at each other and walked over to where the commotion was.

"What's the problem here?" Hotch asked as Regina and Rossi watched.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the guy who's gonna be filing charges against you if anyone dies in there."

"You can't speak to me like that."

Hotch took a step toward the man so he was towering over him. "Get off my crime scene."The politician stared at Hotch and walked away. "Agent Hotchner… Agent Rossi… I'm Dan Torre." He turned to Rossi. "We worked together at Waco."

Rossi nodded. "I remember."

Regina extended her hand. "Regina Williams."

Dan took it. "Nice to meet you." The group walked toward the command centre. "I've asked Agent Rossi to take the lead in the negotiation on this case," Hotch announced as they joined Morgan and JJ.

"Is that such a good idea?" JJ asked. "I mean… it's pretty personal for us…"

"We have to be able to profile Reid and Emily as well as Cyrus…"

"Can we profile them? What about…?"

"Right now, we need to focus on their lives rather then their trust."

JJ nodded. "I guess that makes sense."

"Alright, we need to make contact with Cyrus soon. Let's do what we have to."

The team dispersed.

* * *

Hotch inhaled the autumn air. It was dark, apart from some street lights, there was a cool breeze hitting the back of his neck, a nice change from the Colorado heat, wiping away the images of Emily being beaten, of Reid being dragged out by Morgan, of Regina and her new boyfriend.

He cursed himself as he heard her laugh from across the parking lot. He turned and saw her comfortably with another man, arm around her shoulder, face in her hair. He wanted to say something but the smile on her face stopped him. In three and a half years, he hadn't seen her happy until now and he would endure what he had to to keep it that way.


	32. Catching Out

**Catching Out**

_"Plenty sits still; hunger is a wanderer." Zulu proverb._

* * *

Regina smiled as Eric walked her up to the door. The silences between them were strained but when they talked it was exactly how it should be: they were old friends. She had hesitated when he held her hand, but allowed herself to relax afterwards.

"So… Should I be worried?" he asked as they reached the door.

"About what?"

"Another guy."

Regina looked at him, thought and inhaled. "No. There isn't anyone."

* * *

Hotch watched as Regina approached Emily, Reid and Morgan.

* * *

"What's going on?" she asked Emily.

"Morgan met a woman, who knows who he is." Regina nodded. "But he doesn't know who she is." Regina laughed.

Morgan sighed. "I don't know how I could forget a face like hers."

Reid frowned. "You've been with so many women, you can't remember all their names?"

"This hasn't happened to me before." Morgan led them up to the round table room.

"It hasn't happened to me either."

Regina smiled at Emily. "It can't happen to you. You have an Eidetic memory."

"And you only have one name to remember," Morgan quipped.

Regina slapped him playfully. Emily laughed. "You're so bad."

JJ looked at them questioningly. "Settle… We have a set of six burglary homicides all over central California. Although the area is quite large, the unsub's DNA was found in each of the homes, including that of the latest victims who were killed two days before. The head of the Sacramento Field Office has established a task force and has requested that the BAU run the operation."

Hotch didn't look up from the case file. "They've already named the unsub the "Highway 99 Killer." I'll deal with that when we get there."

"Wow, this is like Goldilocks became a serial killer…" Emily joked.

Regina looked back. "It's true. He sleeps in their beds, wears their clothes, eats their food, uses their showers…"

JJ placed her hand on her back as she sat down. "The killer strikes in one to two person households when the victims are asleep, and uses an item from the home to bludgeon them to death. The motivation for the crimes does not seem to be entirely the burglaries."

Regina rested her elbow on the table. "There are no fingerprints found, and the unsub doesn't take the victims' cars. No reports of strange cars in the neighborhoods, so… how does he get around?" She looked around.

Reid looked at Regina. "The lack of witnesses, noise, or prints tells us the unsub has prior experience. He'll have a criminal record."

Hotch stood up. "We just have to find him before he kills again."

* * *

Hotch, Regina, JJ and Reid walked into station. "Special Agent Kevin Liman?" The agent nodded. "Agents Hotchner, Williams and Doctor Spencer Reid. I'm Agent Jennifer Jareau.

"Thanks for coming." He ushered them into an adjoining room. A map of the crime scenes hang on the wall next to a sign: "Highway 99 killer."

"Who named him this?" Hotch asked.

"I did," Liman answered.

JJ, Reid and Regina all glanced at each other.

"Memo?" JJ said.

"Yeah," Regina agreed as JJ exited the room.

"Good idea." Reid followed. They watched as Hotch spoke to the agent.

* * *

Regina put the coffee to her lips before she spoke to Reid on the phone. "Crops. Just loads and loads of crops." She glanced across at Emily in the drivers seat. "It's probably what the unsub saw."

"_Northern California is a large valley surrounded by mountain ranges and supported by rivers and lakes."_

Regina nodded. "Makes it perfect for farming. We need to put this into the profile."

* * *

Hotch, Emily and Regina stood at the front of the conference room in front of the officers and agents.

Hotch began. "First, I want to be clear: This unsub is not travelling along Highway 99."

Emily continued. "He has targeted five homes and killed eight people in six weeks. He is a transient, somewhat fit, but bruised from his train-hopping and possible conflicts with other hobos. Because of the clothes he steals from his victims, he'll be wearing clean clothing. He will frequent the hobo camps, but, when he grows tired of them he chooses a home to "make his own."

Regina pointed to her nose. "He'll have a red rash around his mouth and nose. This is known as 'sniffer's rash'. It comes from use of household chemicals for an instant high."

Prentiss finished the profile. "He dreams that the victims' homes actually belong to him. If you get close enough, you will notice him. He will smell like a combination of human filth and paint thinner."

Hotch looked around the room. "Thank you for your time."

* * *

Regina glanced back through one of the files she had already read. She and JJ were going over the information Garcia had given them. JJ looked up.

"So, Emily wants a kid. Hotch has a kid. Reid is probably terrified of having a kid… what about you?"Regina looked up and smiled. "Me? And a kid? No." She laughed. "Not a good match."

JJ raised an eyebrow. "Why not? You'd make an amazing mom."

"No, I wouldn't," Regina replied sharply. "Sorry. I- I just wouldn't." She cleared her throat and stood up. "I'm going to go. Meet Hotch, Reid. Em."

"Ok." JJ didn't looked back down and didn't look up again until Regina was almost out of sight.

* * *

Regina sighed in relief. JJ hadn't had a chance to question her about her outburst yet. She messaged her temples. She had decided not to meet Eric and followed Reid, Emily and Morgan out of the double doors. "You know, I could so do with a burger right now…" she mused.

Emily gasped. "That sounds soo good."

"Hey," they heard JJ call. They all turned. JJ was approaching them with another woman in tow. "Guys, this is Jordan Todd. She'll be taking over for me while I'm on maternity leave.""Let me guess." Jordan turned to each member in turn. "Agent Reid, Agent Williams, Agent Prentiss and… Agent Morgan."

Morgan smiled. "It's nice to see you again."

Emily looked from one to the other. "You two have met?"

"Briefly."

Regina nodded. "Ohhh."

JJ frowned in confusion. "Anyway, we've started Agent Todds training."

"Already?" Reid asked.

JJ patted her stomach. "Well, we're kinda running out of time." She turned to Todd. "Should we continue?"

"Yeah… It was nice to meet you all."

Regina, Emily and Reid fell into step beside Morgan. "Is there something you want to tell us?" Emily asked

"No."

"You're sweating."

"And avoiding eye contact," Regina pointed out.

Reid smiled. "Your blink rate just went up."

They laughed. Morgan shook his head. "You know… I don't want that burger anymore."

Emily gasped. "You can't run from us."

"Watch me."

Reid, Emily and Regina stood and discussed Morgan's behaviour as they waited for the next elevator.

* * *

_"Beyond the East the sunrise, beyond the West the sea, and the East and West the wander-thirst that will not let me be." Gerald Gould._


	33. Memoriam

**Memoriam**

Hotch, Emily, Regina and JJ sat around the table, playing cards. They were the only ones flying home. Reid was staying on to spend time with his mother in Vegas, and Morgan and Rossi were concerned for him so they stayed too.

"Gin," Hotch announced triumphantly.

Regina sighed. "That's the third game." JJ smiled and picked up the deck.

Emily threw down her cards. "God, it's even more annoying than when Reid wins. At least he has an excuse."

JJ suddenly lurched forward. Various exclamations of concern were voiced. "I'm fine. Oh, that was a big one."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Hotch asked.

"It was just a kick... He's a kicker."

"Do you want to go to the hospital when we land?" Emily suggested.

"No! I have a meeting with Jordan today. It was just a kick. I'm fine! Can I deal?"

Regina stood. "Drinks?"

"Tea?" JJ asked.

"Coffee, please," Emily said, smiling.

Hotch stood up too. "I'll give you a hand."

Regina smiled at him as he put on the kettle. "You don't have to."

Hotch's voice was low. "Is she alright?"

Regina glanced behind his shoulder. "JJ? She's fine. It was just a kick."

They were whispering now. "I know. I just can't help thinking about a few weeks back. After lunch. And we went back to work and... she got upset."

"You think that when the baby's born she's going to have post natal depression?"

"I'm just concerned for her."

"Hotch. This is JJ we're talking about. She is one of the most bubbly people I know after Garcia."

"Where're our drinks, slave people?" JJ called.

Regina looked out. "Coming in a sec." She looked back at Hotch, who was pouring the water into four cups. "Pregnancy is probably one of the most stressful, life changing times for a woman. Followed closely by puberty. But…" She laughed at the look on his face. "JJ is not going to suffer from post natal depression. She's not the type."

"How do you know that?"

"Because…" She cleared her throat and gathered herself. Hotch frowned. "I've seen people suffer from it. She isn't the type."

She grabbed a cup of coffee and JJ's cup of tea and walked out to the girls.

* * *

"Ladies, you remember Jordan Todd."

Regina walked over to Emily's desk where JJ and Jordan were standing. "Yes. Of course."

"Wait," Jordan interrupted before Regina could introduce herself. She pointed to Regina. "Regina Williams." She pointed at Emily. "Emily Prentiss."

Emily looked impressed. "Nice. I always thought that JJ was Regina for the longest time. So what are you doing here?"

"Jordan will be shadowing me for the next few weeks until my maternity leave starts."

Emily shook her head. "You have big shoes to fill."

"Big ankles, at least."

"JJ, you look amazing," Jordan retorted.

Regina wrapped her arm around JJ. "That's I keep telling her."

"Do either of you have children?" Jordan asked.

"No," Emily answered.

Regina smiled. "I think JJ snared the last viable donor."

"Donor for what?" Everyone looked around as Hotch joined the group.

Regina, Emily and JJ all looked at each other while JJ quickly changed the subject. "Nothing. I'm just reacquainting Agent Todd here with the layout."

"Good to see you again, SSA Hotchner," Jordan said politely as she held out her hand which Hotch took.

"Ah, please call me Hotch."

"So where's the rest of the team?"

"Another case came up while we were in Las Vegas and they said they'd stay behind to look into it." He turned to JJ. "How are you feeling?"#

JJ frowned. "Fine."

Regina looked at Hotch. "Can I speak to you? Alone? For a second?"

"Sure. Excuse us." They walked away. "What is it?"

"JJ is fine! You need to stop worrying about her."

"Or what?"

"Or…" She thought for a second as they entered the kitchenette. "I'll tell on you."

Hotch laughed as he made himself a cup of tea. "Tell on me? To whom?"

"To…" Regina thought. "To JJ."

"Ok, I'm scared." Hotch tried to maintain a serious face, but his smile broke through. "Get back to work, or I'll tell on you. To Strauss."

"Oh, now I'm scared. I'll see you later."

Hotch watched her walk away. JJ smiled as Regina returned to her desk, hiding the look of concern that she felt.

* * *

Regina walked out of the bathroom as Hotch walked past. "Are you stalking me?" she asked in feigned shock.

"You wish. Garcia's been digging on Reid's father." Regina stopped walking. "Stop worrying."

"I'm being serious." She lowered her voice. "Can I speak to you? In confidentiality?" Hotch indicated an empty office. She walked in. "I was talking to Morgan. He said that Reid's behaviour is… similar… to when he kicking the dilaudid."

"Do you think he's taking again?"

"No… I just don't want this to… tip him over the edge."

He hesitated before putting a hand on her shoulder. "Reid's going to be fine. As soon as he comes back, you can take care of him." He tilted his head. "You'd make a good mom."

"Why does everyone say that to me?"

Hotch smiled. "Let's go to the Office of Supreme… unquestionable… knowledge cyber highway... Whatever." Regina smiled. "Let's go."

* * *

"Do I do it?" Garcia whispered.

Regina leaned forward. "Do what?" she whispered back.

Garcia jumped. "Don't profilers ever knock?"

"No. Now my question. Do what?"

"Call him. We have nothing. Do I call them, or do we keep digging?"

"Call 'em." Hotch ordered

Garcia did as she was told. Morgan answered. _"Yeah, talk to me, baby girl."_

"I'm not interrupting boy time at Crazy Horse Too, am I?"

"_You know that's not my thing. I'm more for in-room entertainment."_

"I can't help you there, but I do give good phone" Regina looked over at a shocked Hotch and smiled. "Reid, we have been all up in your father's business. There is no kiddie porn. No membership to illicit websites. No dubious e-mails, no chat room history."

_"What about his finances?" _Reid asked.

"We went back ten years," Hotch answered. "No questionable transactions that we could find."

Regina looked at the phone. "Well, he did by a ticket to see Celine Dion six months ago, but I think we can overlook that." Garcia smiled. Hotch shook his head. _What? _she mouthed.

Reid didn't give up. _"He's smart. Is it possible he kept things under the table?"_

"Well, of course," Hotch answered, "but, from what we can tell, Reid, he doesn't fit the profile."

There was silence on the other end of the line. Regina sighed. "There's other stuff we can tell you if you want to know?"

_"Go for it."_

"He's a workaholic. Actually, logs more hours than we do. He makes decent money but he doesn't spend a lot of it. He has a modest house, drives a hybrid, doesn't travel much, stays away from casinos and according to veterinary bills, he has a very sick cat."

"He appears to spend most of his free time alone," Hotch continued, "goes to the movies a lot and he reads. And from his collection of first editions it seems his favourite author is…"

"_Issac Asimov. I remember that one."_

Garcia smiled at her companions. "He does have one other major interest on his home computer… You. He has like a gajillion things on you that have been published online. Every article you have ever been quoted in, pieces you've written for behavioural science journals. He even has a copy of your dissertation."

Regina smiled. "He's keeping tabs on you. That says something."

"_Yeah… That he googled me. That makes up for everything. I need some air."_

Garcia looked around. "I thought we were giving him good news."

"What else can we do?" Hotch asked.

"_Look into Gary Brendan Michaels."_

"Do you like him for the Riley murder?"

_"Somebody does. Thanks, guys," _Rossi said, before the call ended_. _

* * *

Hotch walked into the kitchenette where Regina and Emily were. "Does Garcia have anything on Michaels?"

"Nothing yet. She'll call us when she gets something," Regina said blowing on her coffee.

"Didn't I already tell you to get back to work?"

"You know I can't work without coffee." She pointed at him. "You are just as bad."

"That's not true. I might be nearly as bad, but you are almost as bad as Reid."

Regina laughed. "That is not true." Hotch smiled. "You going to tell Strauss?"

Before he could answer, Emily laughed."Wow!" Before they could question her, Garcia rushed into the kitchenette with JJ and Jordan in tow. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am not a doctor. I don't even play one on TV, but I believe young JJ is going into labour."

Emily gasped. Regina jumped up and down and clapped her hands. Hotch left his cup. "I'll get the car," Hotch said as he left.

"I'll get the other one," Regina said as she followed.

* * *

The drive to the hospital was stressful. In one car, Hotch was driving Emily to the hospital. In the other, Regina was tearing through traffic with JJ and Garcia.

JJ screamed. "Sweetie," Garcia said soothingly. "It's ok. Just breathe."

* * *

They sat in the waiting room for over fifteen hours, each doing their own thing to not think about JJ and the excruciating pain she was going through: Hotch was going through case files on an armchair, Garcia and Emily were playing tetris on the sofa and Regina was reading a book on the window sill.

Regina looked up and Emily was standing beside her. "What are you doing?"

"Reading." Regina looked confused.

"With Hotch." Regina eyed her friend curiously. "You have been flirting with him non stop for the past two days."

"That's not true."

Emily patted her friend on the shoulder. "Yes. It is."

* * *

The three women and Hotch watched as the glowing parents stared at their son. "Oh, Will, he looks just like you," Garcia said.

Will smiled. "Let's hope he grows out of that."

"As long as he didn't inherit the accent," Emily joked.

They all turned as Reid walked into the room. "Spence!" JJ says happily.

"Hey." He turned to Will. "Congratulations."

"How is it I just went through fifteen hours of labour and you look worse than I do?"

"Don't be ridiculous. You look beautiful."

JJ looked at Will. He took the hint. "Coffee, anyone?"

"Sure," the small group replied, leaving JJ and Will alone. As they walked to meet Rossi and Morgan, Emily pulled Garcia ahead, leaving Hotch and Regina behind.

* * *

"To the baby!" Rossi toasted.

"The baby!" the team replied. They were in hospital cafeteria.

"That poor kid is gonna get the crap beaten out of him," Morgan announced.

Regina giggled. "Henry the Hacker."

Garcia looked proud. "I will teach him everything I know."

Regina pulled out her phone. "Work?" Morgan asked.

"No…" She stopped Will from getting up. "Next round's on me."

She walked slowly away, slipping her phone back into her pocket. Garcia followed her. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah…" She ordered and paid for the coffee. "Eric just asked me to move in with him." Garcia froze, taking in what her friend told her.

**2,161 characters... I think that's a personal best**


	34. Moving

"First case. Nervous?" Emily took a sip of her coffee as Jordan handed out case files in the bullpen. Regina was barely listening to the exchange. She sipped the coffee slowly, a million miles away. In a second, Garcia appeared in front of her. She jumped.

"Have you decided yet?"

Regina looked down at the case file and started flicking through. "Decided?" She knew what was coming. She didn't want the questions, the worries, the congratulations.

"Are you moving in with Eric?"

"Yeah."

Garcia's reaction was surprising. She looked angry. "Why?"

"I thought you would have been happy for me. Moving on after four years."

"What's going on?" Emily walked over. Jordan had gone to get Rossi and Hotch for the briefing.

"Nothing." Regina went back to looking through her file.

"Regina's decided to get involved in a serious relationship just when he's divorced."

"Who?" Emily asked.

"Hotch!"

"Yes." The girls looked around, shocked to see Hotch standing right there.

Regina laughed. "You are going to get mad unless we get gone."

As they walked up to the conference room, Emily glanced back at Regina. "You know new maternal JJ isn't going to like this."

* * *

Hotch walked over to Regina. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah." She frowned. "Why?"

"Just wondering. you ladies seemed to have a very intense conversation yesterday."

Regina looked at the crime scene they were standing in. "I'm moving in with Eric. My friend. We've been seeing each other for a while."

She didn't look up. She heard him mutter a "congratulations" and when she looked up he was walking away.

* * *

Regina looked around the empty house as Eric and Morgan lifted the last boxes out to the car. Garcia walked in and put an arm around her friend. "You ok, princess?"

"Yeah… It's just saying goodbye to this place… it's been my comfort zone."

"Morgan will take care of it for you." Regina had agreed to sell the house to Morgan.

"Yeah… It's just… Memories, you know? This is harder than I thought it would be."

"You know it's yours whenever you want it back."

Regina nodded. "It's stupid but can you give me a minute."

Garcia walked out. "Bye house… Bye memories."

"What took so long?" Eric asked as he started the car.

"Just putting some things to rest."

On the drive to her new home, Regina vowed to move on.


	35. To hell and back

When Regina told Hotch that she had moved in with Eric, he didn't seem angry, or upset. He accepted it. She felt comforted by this, knowing that their relationship was as it should be. And as much as Regina had liked Jordan, having JJ back put everything back to normal, a balance which was shattered when George Foyet, aka the Reaper, escaped from prison. He'd come after Hotch, that much was obvious. Regina found herself questioning the job a lot. She knew they couldn't catch them all, but she wished they could.

The case in Canada nearly put her over the edge. She didn't have the feeling she normally had when they saved a victim. She felt angry, bitter. Looking around the bullpen, she found comfort in the faces of her colleagues, her friends. They all felt the exact same way.

Regina pulled on her coat and made her way up to Hotch's office. This case had hit him hard. He'd spent about ten minutes standing at his office window looking out at the bullpen. She knocked on his door. "Come in."

She walked into the office as he was replacing the phone onto the receiver. "Jack?"

"Yeah. I just, uh…"

"Needed to hear his voice?"

Hotch laughed and stood up. "Yeah." He looked at her. "You look exhausted."

"So do you."

Hotch hesitated before he spoke again. "Regina." Hotch walked over to her. "Don't go." Regina frowned. He reached out and took her hands in his. "I love you. After all these years I still wake up in the morning regretting what happened, I wish things had been different."

"Hotch—"

"When you told me you were moving in with Eric, it hurt. Really, really hurt."

"Hotch, listen—"

"No, look, I know you care about Eric, but he can he love you the way I do?" He cut her off again before she could say anything. "Let's go away for a few days. Just us. We'll get a hotel room, and we'll just talk. We can make this work."

"You couldn't have done this a year ago. When Haley left you, why not then? When your car blow up in New York? When I hadn't convinced myself that I was over you!" She pulled her hands away from his. "Hotch… Eric proposed. I said yes."

Hotch's face fell. He dropped his eyes to the ground. He needed to part ways with Regina with something, anything. When he looked back up at her, he had his stoic, cold, Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner face on. "Congratulations."

"Hotch—"

"Regina, it was a stupid idea. It was a tough case and I'm tired and lonely. I just didn't want to go home to an empty apartment alone."

"Hotch—"

He returned to his desk. "You should go. I'm leaving soon, I just have some work to clear up."

Not knowing what else to do, Regina turned around and left the office.

* * *

Sometimes there are no words, no clever quotes to sum up the day. Sometimes the day just ends…


End file.
